DEVOPSdigest

CA Technologies launched the CA API Skills Foundation for Universities in Milan, Italy - an innovative training program designed to raise awareness and increase knowledge around API Management as well as further address the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) skills shortage.

The CA API Skills Foundation will welcome its first group of engineering students from Politecnico di Milano, who will specialize in API Management, which is an area of critical interest in today’s digital economy.

The initiative is part of CA Technologies Create Tomorrow CSR programme, designed to inspire, influence and educate young people about the importance of a career in STEM. The Create Tomorrow CSR programme engages CA employees in a series of activities with schools and universities throughout Europe and, to date, has reached over 10,000 young people.

“In order to be competitive in today’s fast-paced environment, every company is undergoing a digital transformation to offer products and services that meet their customers' needs faster and at significantly lower costs,” says Pierpaolo Taliento, SVP, EMEA South, CA Technologies. “As evidenced by a recent study*, advanced use of APIs - the programming interfaces used to develop mobile and IoT applications and provide reliable connectivity between data, people, apps and devices - can accelerate the digital transformation process to help businesses improve the customer experience, increase customer and partner satisfaction, and reduce IT-related costs.”

To maximize the benefits of APIs, organizations need an advanced full lifecycle approach to API management; one that helps create, secure and manage APIs at enterprise scale. However, a Coleman Parkes study uncovered that barriers to API adoption persist, first and foremost the lack of skilled resources, which can frustrate and even stagnate the innovation process.

On this basis, and leveraging the experience of the API Academy — a CA team of global experts who specialize in consulting and training customers and partners — CA Technologies has created the CA API Skills Foundation for Universities. A select group of Politecnico di Milano engineering students will be the first to take part.

The initiative will run through the academic semester and students can register for the CA API Skills Foundation for Universities through the Career Service of Politecnico di Milano. The program will offer five modules – Basic Knowledge, API Design and Engineering, API Implementation and Construction, API Security, and API Strategy - plus a final one-day workshop on API Architecture. Taught by local and international CA Technologies experts, the programme will conclude with the award of an attendance certificate.

Students can then be recruited for a three-month internship with customers and partners of CA Technologies; the first among these is Intesa Sanpaolo, the leading banking group in Italy. During the internship, the students will be able to apply what they have learned in the field, and work in teams to implement API Management technologies that help enable the delivery of modern software systems.

The announcement of CA API Skills Foundation for Universities coincides with the opening of the new CA office in Milan, in downtown Milan in Viale Restelli 1/A in the Isola neighbourhood, adjacent to one of the city's most innovative districts, Porta Nuova.

Employees and business activity will be transferred from the Basiglio site to the new city centre location to establish a new point of reference for both customers and partners.

“This strategic decision is intended to locate CA in a district of Milan that has become symbolic of the city's capacity to innovate, and a beacon for firms leading the digital transformation in Italy,” stated Michele Lamartina, Country Manager Italy, CA Technologies.

“The new headquarters will be the heart of CA's operations in Italy and are inspired by the principles of agile working. The investment in the new office environment will create a state of the art workspace, ensuring that the Company remains a great place to work for all our staff and, of course, a fantastic meeting destination for our customers and partners,” he added.

Employees can look forward to stunning design concepts in breakout areas, meeting rooms for staff, which can be near a traditional brick pizza oven, an original style Italian coffee shop or just simply sit in a ski gondola overlooking the alps, as well as customer facing meeting rooms which have their own unique design. There are also connecting spaces, where employees can enjoy a coffee, catch up with colleagues or take time away from their desks.

The move will serve to improve operating efficiency in a thoroughly modern space, designed in accordance with the latest cutting-edge values of sustainable construction and energy efficiency; the office has been awarded a Platinum Energy and Environmental Class A Award.

The area CA has chosen for its new headquarters has seen one of the biggest urban and architectural redevelopments in Europe, completely reshaping the Garibaldi, Isola and Varesine neighbourhoods, to which numerous international giants of finance and hi-tech have chosen to relocate.