Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak launches online tech education platform Woz U

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak has launched an online tech education platform called Woz U that will promote jobs and skills required in the tech industry. Based in Arizona, Woz U has been launched with many online programs and there are plans to add ground campuses in more than 30 cities across the US and even internationally.

“Our goal is to educate and train people in employable digital skills without putting them into years of debt,” Wozniak said in a statement. “People often are afraid to choose a technology-based career because they think they can’t do it. I know they can, and I want to show them how. My entire life I have worked to build, develop, and create a better world through technology and I have always respected education. Now is the time for Woz U, and we are only getting started.”

Woz U offers access to tech companies interested in using the tools and resources to recruit and train employees. The platform will also provide school districts with K-12 STEAM programs, exposing digital engineering concepts to students at a younger age to nudge them towards a tech-based career. There will also be an accelerator program soon to identify and develop elite tech talent. The overall goal is to increase interest in what Woz U calls STEAM careers, i.e. science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics.

Woz U has created a mobile app to help match people with the technology-based career best suited for them. Current programs will train computer support specialists and software developers, with data science, mobile applications, and cybersecurity courses coming soon. It's unclear whether the courses will be offered for free, or whether Woz U plans on charging for any element of the online education platform.

“My entire life I have worked to build, develop and create a better world through technology and I always have respected education,” Wozniak said. He further added, “Now is the time for Woz U, and we are only getting started.”