Victoria University launches state's first Datacentre Academy

Victoria University (VU) has been awarded a $420,000 grant by the Department of Jobs, Skills, Industry and Regions to create Victoria's first Datacentre Academy based at VU’s Footscray Nicholson Campus.  

The generous funding demonstrates confidence in VU’s expertise and industry alignment. The $420,000 pilot funding matches dollars already provided by Microsoft and will enable VU to deliver tailored, demand-driven courses that enhance employability outcomes for students and strengthen VU’s reputation as an innovative and responsive education provider.  

“The University is excited to be partnering with Microsoft to help students from Melbourne’s west prepare for entry level roles in the booming datacentre industry. The Victoria University Datacentre Academy perfectly demonstrates how education and industry can work together to address critical skills shortages and open quality employment opportunities for individuals from diverse backgrounds,” John Burgess, Manager, VU Cyber Security and Digital Technologies said. 

The pilot program, co-funded by Microsoft, the world’s largest datacentre and operator, and the State Government have offered 50 prospective students a fee-free enrolment across two short-form courses. 

Datacentre Essentialsis an entry-level course, based at VU’s Footscray Nicholson campus, for anyone with basic IT skills interested in knowing more about how datacentres function, their infrastructure, safety and security measurements.  

The Critical Environment Technician course, focuses on the specialist skills needed to monitor and maintain environments and includes access to purpose-built datacentre simulator that emulates a data-hall “cage” where students will learn to install, configure and maintain servers, data storage and connectivity. 

From cloud services, streaming and AI, datacentres are integral to protecting and storing our digital lives. As this burgeoning IT area continues to grow, so does the demand for a specialised workforce dedicated to monitoring and maintaining critical systems in datacentre environments. The courses are specifically designed to help address the significant skills gaps driving workforce shortages in the rapidly growing datacentre industry.