The Colorado Workplace of Financial Improvement and Worldwide Commerce (OEDIT) has awarded an Alternative Now Seed Grant to Assist Educators in constructing AI literacy
SparkFun’s headquarters is situated in Niwot, Colorado, which is simply exterior of Boulder and about half-hour from Denver. Our headquarters is the place we ideate, design, and manufacture our boards (we additionally ship everywhere in the world from this location). Colorado is house to one of many quickest rising tech communities with a mixture of massive firms (Lockheed Martin, Ball Aerospace, Arrow Electronics…), smaller firms like us, and startups in every single place. In a 2023 report, the Computing Know-how Trade Affiliation (CompTIA) discovered that Colorado is predicted so as to add the very best complete of internet new jobs in tech and that, presently, greater than 8% of the state’s workforce is employed by tech firms, which is the fifth highest focus nationally.
SparkFun’s headquarters in Niwot, CO
To help this neighborhood, the Colorado Workplace of Financial Improvement and Worldwide Commerce (OEDIT), is concentrated on driving future innovation, strengthening the state’s financial place, and addressing fairness gaps within the workforce. Alternative Now is a program managed by OEDIT that funds tasks that help partnerships of {industry}, training and coaching suppliers to create new expertise pathways.
Alongside the Colorado Schooling Initiative (CEI), MagicSchool.ai, and the AI Schooling Undertaking (aiEDU), SparkFun submitted a joint proposal for an Alternative Now Seed Grant – and, yesterday, it was introduced that our submission, ElevateAI, was awarded. We’re so very excited and honored to maneuver ahead with this impactful mission over the following couple years. We’re additionally happy that a number of different {industry} companions can be supporting this mission.
ElevateAI is designed to equip educators with expertise to leverage AI of their apply and higher put together college students for a future the place AI is integral. Given Colorado’s designation as a Quantum Tech Hub, ElevateAI additionally creates a novel alternative to discover the mixing of quantum computing into Okay-12 profession pathways in partnership with statewide efforts. Core program parts embody:
As a part of our dedication to this grant, SparkFun will guarantee deal with the competencies that college students and educators should be ready for an AI-future; take part within the statewide AI in Colorado Schooling Steering Committee; present mentoring with {industry} companions; assist form a program for pupil internships, job matching, and job placement; and supply high-quality STEM supplies, such because the Experiential Robotics Platform (XRP).