AWS to deliver cloud computing education to The Girls' Brigade Singapore

Amazon Web Services (AWS), an Amazon.com company, has a collaboration with The Girls’ Brigade Singapore (GBS) to equip its 3,600 members with cloud computing education. The partnership aims to help prepare the girls for success in the new digital economy, and to inspire them to develop technology solutions that could better serve the lonely, elderly, needy, and those with special needs in their communities.

The announcement was made at the annual Girls Brigade Friendship Day (GBFD) Carnival on 14 July, where GBS Patron, President of the Republic of Singapore Halimah Yacob, was present as the Guest-of-Honour among an estimated 1,500 guests.

Established in 1927 to serve the community in Singapore and beyond, GBS works to holistically develop girls aged five to 18 years in the areas of leadership, character, and values development, encouraging them to render service in the home, school, community, and nation. As part of their approach, GBS leverages technology, such as AWS services, to empower girls to embrace cloud technologies. This strategy is designed to inspire them to serve through innovation, prepare them to be digitally ready for further technical education and employment opportunities with top jobs in the workforce, and equip them with new and relevant skills. 

Announced in conjunction with the event was GBS’ new technology-enabled learning initiative Digital Serve (D-Serve). GBS draws on content and expertise from the AWS Educate programme for its members and officers to learn the latest cloud computing skills, including artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning. AWS Educate, a global programme at AWS, provides learning content, resources, and AWS Cloud service credits for students and educators to gain hands-on experience in cloud computing. 

Under this programme, members of GBS will undergo up to eight hours of instructor-led classroom training with experiential applied learning and practice. The basics of cloud computing, and the concepts of AI and machine learning are taught, including the design of voice-enabled solutions. Students also acquire practical experience with AWS service credits to build useful solutions for local communities. This means GBS members can learn to make apps and technology solutions that could benefit the community.

On completing the programme, members receive the AWS Educate explorer badge, powered by AWS Educate. The launch of this badge marks the first time AWS has offered such an accreditation with a uniformed group in Singapore.

Mrs Evangeline Chong, Brigade Commissioner, Girls’ Brigade Singapore, said, “The Girls’ Brigade Singapore has worked to holistically develop girls, aged five to 18 years, focusing on developing the total girl and encouraging them to render service in the home, school, community and nation. The GB90 vision is to help girls Grow and Go beyond – Extend ● Serve ● Lead. We are pleased to be partnering the various digital and education institutions to align GBS with the national movement of being a Smart Nation, by leveraging on technology to improve our serve, being digitally ready for the future of the work and equipping our girls with new and relevant skills."

“We commend the leadership of GBS, who have shown vision and wisdom to encourage their members in learning digital skills that will help them develop innovative and practical solutions for their communities,” said Vincent Quah, Regional Head of Education for Asia Pacific and Japan, AWS.

“By empowering the girls of the GBS, and the young generation with cloud computing skills, we are building a future-ready workforce together, which is critical for Singapore’s economic growth as the nation develops innovation-driven economy.”