Microsoft and the Project Management Institute (PMI) are partnering to announce the Power Platform University Hub. The University Hub teaches students how to solve a wide range of business problems with low-code—one of the fastest-growing technologies in the job landscape today.

Technology has become a critical part of almost every element of an organization’s operations. This means huge demand for employees who can innovate to help solve today’s business problems like how to streamline processes, gain efficiencies, improve business intelligence, and ultimately drive digital transformation across the organization. Historically organizations have relied on developers and IT to build the solutions they need; however, the need for developers is growing much faster than the number of new developers entering the workforce. Low-code platforms mean that organizations no longer need to be dependent on professional developer skills for all of their solutions. Gartner® forecasts that by 2025, 70 percent of new enterprise applications will use low-code technologies.

Low-code student developers create business solutions

The Power Platform University Hub provides students with an integrated curriculum focused on the power of using low-code platforms to accelerate digital transformation. Students in the program are granted access to a learning journey that includes more than a dozen courses. Courses span topics like low-code development and analytics tools. Students who successfully complete the curriculum will receive two certifications: a PMI Citizen Developer™ Practitioner Micro-Credential and a PL-100 Microsoft Power Platform App Maker certification.

Training more students in low-code tools addresses the existing gap that has resulted from a shortage of pro-code developers and the growing need for organizations and companies to be able to create business solutions without relying solely on overstretched IT departments. To date, 28 universities have successfully participated in a pilot program and set more than 1,500 low-code student developers on their path to building applications for their future companies.

“At PMI we are committed to helping equip the next generation of leaders with tools that will enable them to excel in the workforce,” said Sam Sibley, Global Head of Citizen Developer at PMI. “The entire citizen development movement is a catalyst for faster change and is revolutionizing the way we work, as well as the way we are able to create social impact. Which is why we are excited to work with Microsoft to help enable students across the globe with the skills they need to thrive, both in the workplace and when impacting social change.”

The Power Platform University Hub helps educational institutions prepare their students to enter the workforce and make their students more attractive to potential employers by offering a self-guided learning journey across both the managerial aspect of accelerating and managing adoption of low-code solutions with best practices in mind, as well as the technical knowledge needed to build apps, data visualizations, chat bots, websites, and automation with low-code efficiently and effectively. These skills are covered through interactive learning paths paired with hands-on labs and evaluated through a rigorous certification process.

“The Power Platform University Hub provides an excellent training environment with certified courses which leverages Project Management Institute’s citizen development body of knowledge and Microsoft’s Power Platform. This allows non-technical students to create apps, software solutions and even enterprise-grade applications without necessarily having to learn to code,” said Dr. Noel Carroll, Associate Head of Learning and Founder of the Citizen Developer Lab at the University of Galway. “I am extremely passionate about building student confidence in using digital technology and empower them to question, create, experiment, develop, and learn. In this digital world, we need to ensure we are creating an inclusive society and learning environment. Diversity of opinions and experiences are a critical part of digital innovation and therefore empowering students through education is an important enabler for them to play a role in digital transformation across society and business. The Power Platform University Hub supports us to achieve this.”

Sign up to give your students access to the University Hub

Drive employability for your students by using the Power Platform University Hub to help them become certified low-code professionals and their future companies, industries, and communities realize the full potential of digital transformation. Sign up today by having a faculty member complete the onboarding form. Once your form submission has been processed, your school’s Microsoft accounts will be given access to the Power Platform University Hub so your students can embark on their low-code learning journeys.