Now Any Federal Government Agency Can Easily Engage Coursera for Upskilling Projects 

By Kevin Mills, Head of Government Partnerships 

Approximately 400,000 Federal employees will need to be reskilled by FY 2021, according to the Office of Management and Budget. That’s nearly 20% of the government’s current workforce. 

Today, we are excited to announce an agreement with immixGroup to add Coursera to its General Services Administration (GSA) Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) contract. Now, at a time when reskilling is mission-critical, federal agencies can streamline the deployment of high-quality online learning with Coursera. Qualifying state, local, and tribal governments can also sign up for Coursera through immixGroup’s MAS Information Technology contract, which provides agencies with innovative technology solutions from over 4,600 pre-vetted vendors. 

The pandemic has accelerated digital transformation and automation, creating an urgent need for reskilling across public and private sectors. The need for upskilling is especially acute for government organizations, as technology adoption is now crucial to achieving mission outcomes. According to Gartner, 80% of government organizations are still at the initial or developing digital maturity stages. 

Coursera helps governments advance mission delivery with strategic, job-based learning programs that develop mastery in critical digital skills. Governments using Coursera have access to more than 4,200 courses from over 200 renowned university and industry educators including Google, IBM, Yale University, and the University of Michigan in cutting-edge skills like big data, AI, cloud computing, and cybersecurity as well as soft skills like leadership and communication. 

Strategic upskilling, curated for job-roles with clear skill proficiency goals, will be key to building a competitive workforce in our “new normal.” This year, we introduced hundreds of job-based learning programs that match skill goals for a given role with a set of data-driven course recommendations. These SkillSets power Academies, which help governments drive skill literacy, upskilling, and reskilling in key areas such as Data Science, Software Engineering, and Cloud. Coursera can create custom learning pathways aligned to any organization’s mission requirements. Governments can track skill progress and measure proficiency against their organization’s goals as well as industry benchmarks. 

Over 380 governments and 2,400 companies use Coursera to reskill their employee and citizen workforces, including leading government agencies and 25% of Fortune 500 companies. 

Workforce development is now an urgent priority for governments worldwide. At the height of the pandemic, we launched the Coursera Workforce Recovery Initiative to help governments provide impacted workers with free access to job-relevant training. Over the last seven months, governments across more than 100 countries and 30 US states and cities — including the states of Minnesota, Maine, Illinois, and South Carolina — have successfully implemented this initiative. Since April, more than 1 million impacted workers have enrolled in 8 million courses to gain in-demand skills. 

As the pandemic continues to rapidly reshape our working world, we are committed to helping governments build competitive workforces through scalable, data-driven learning programs. For more information about Coursera for Government, visit www.coursera.org/government.

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