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IT Workforce Training Recommendations 2023

 
DANA DEROUCHEY
IT Workforce Training Recommendations 2023
Published on Thursday, October 5, 2023, 5:53 PM by DANA DEROUCHEY
 

IT Workforce Training Recommendations

As the FY2024 performance year approaches, USDA OCIO encourages all USDA employees to take advantage of the robust collection of resources that are available through AgLearn to prepare Individual Development Plans (IDP) and to consider how to incorporate trainings and skills development into daily workloads. USDA OCIO will be communicating with IT community managers and supervisors to emphasize the criticality and importance of continual learning and development to best deliver technology across USDA and will reinforce that managers and supervisors should be working with their employees to encourage and help support skills development and training as a key element of employee work performance.

Included below, are trainings that have been identified either as desired growth opportunities for USDA employees based on the results of a recent IT Workforce skills gap analysis, or are competencies relevant to the future of Artificial Intelligence (AI) that OPM identified in a July 6, 2023 memorandum External Link regarding the AI In Government Act of 2020. The list of trainings is not exhaustive, and employees are encouraged to start a dialogue with supervisors to determine which trainings could be the most appropriate within the AgLearn Library to incorporate as part of an employee’s Individual Development Plan for FY2024 and beyond. This list is an example to help find relevant available courses and start that dialogue.

The trainings provided below come from Skillsoft’s Percipio platform External Link and LinkedIn Learning External Link, which all USDA employees can access through AgLearn for free using eAuthentication credentials.

Types of Trainings Include:

  • Courses: Standalone trainings that cover a particular competency. These may be a part of Aspire Journeys and Learning Paths or recommended in Skill Benchmarks.
  • “Aspire Journeys” and “Learning Paths”: Multi-course collections of training courses that provide an in-depth review of a competency.
  • Labs: Percipio offers hands-on lab experience for IT skills practice.
  • Skill Benchmarks: Percipio offers skill benchmarks, which upon completion, provide learners with personalized sets of recommended trainings that are targeted to close skill gaps.

For more information on getting started with Percipio, watch the Intro to Percipio for Learners External Link video. For more information on LinkedIn Learning, LinkedIn has developed a How to Use LinkedIn External Link course that can provide new learners with an overview of its features.

Between the offerings available through Skillsoft-Percipio and LinkedIn Learning, employees should find a wide range of options available to close IT-related skills gaps and broaden their knowledge of emerging AI technologies or associated skills.

USDA IT Technical Areas

Application Development

Skills related to the development of applications, including the use of programming languages to script and automate tasks.

Beginner Trainings
Intermediate Trainings
Advanced Trainings

Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning

Knowledge of key Artificial Intelligence principles, methods, and tools that are used to design systems that use apply human-like intelligence functions.

Beginner Trainings
Intermediate Trainings
Advanced Trainings

Computer Languages

Trainings featuring R, Python, and SQL are featured below as a sample of AgLearn’s offerings. Additional trainings on Java, C++, and other coding languages or software are available through AgLearn on Percipio and on LinkedIn Learning.

Beginner Trainings
Intermediate Trainings
Advanced Trainings

Data Extraction and Transformation

Skills related to the collection, organization, and transformation of data sets for easy access, analysis, and use.

Beginner Trainings
Intermediate Trainings
Advanced Trainings

Data Visualization

Skills related to the use of tools, techniques, and software to generate reports and/or visualizations of data analyses and findings.

General Trainings
Beginner Trainings
Intermediate Trainings
Advanced Trainings

Data Analysis

Skills related to the ability to evaluate data sources.

Beginner Trainings
Intermediate Trainings
Advanced Trainings

Modeling and Simulation

Skills related to the ability to develop functional or prototype models with data that can be used for training, testing, and evaluation.

Beginner Trainings
Intermediate Trainings
Advanced Trainings

Software Engineering

Skills related to the development, deployment, update, maintenance, and testing of software.

Beginner Trainings
Intermediate Trainings
Advanced Trainings

Systems Design

Skills related to the design and evaluation of software and hardware and to the development of enterprise and solution architectures.

Beginner Trainings
Intermediate Trainings
Advanced Trainings

Testing and Validation

Skills related to the development of appropriate methods of testing and validating software to ensure that systems align with goals and values. 

Beginner Trainings
Intermediate Trainings
Advanced Trainings

Values-Driven Design

Skills related to the incorporation of values, ethics, equity, security, autonomy, accessibility, and justice into the design, testing, and deployment of AI systems and technologies.

Beginner Trainings
Intermediate Trainings

USDA IT Project & Management Areas

Cyber Workforce Planning and Management

Skills related to the identification of issues related to workforce planning and management (e.g. recruitment, retention, and training).

Beginner Trainings
Intermediate Trainings
Advanced Trainings

Database Administration

Skills related to the management of data, including data warehousing, data mining, database organization, user access, and security.

General Trainings
Beginner Trainings
Intermediate Trainings
Advanced Trainings

Project Management

Skills and knowledge related to the management of projects and teams, including resource management, and work management.

Beginner Trainings
Intermediate Trainings
Advanced Trainings

Communicating Results

Skills related to the ability to translate technical concepts, data findings, uncertainty, and bias from data sets and communicating the information into plain language or supporting diagrams.

General Trainings
Beginner Trainings
Intermediate Trainings

Monitoring

Skills related to studying the effects of systems over time for user experience, accessibility, and usability.

General Trainings
Beginner Trainings
Intermediate Trainings
Advanced Trainings

Planning and Evaluating

Skills related to setting priorities and determining resource requirements for projects, establishing goals, and monitoring progress and outcomes.

General Trainings
Beginner Trainings
Intermediate Trainings
Advanced Trainings

USDA IT Power Skill and Team Cohesion Areas

Emotional Intelligence

Skills and knowledge of working with a high degree of emotional intelligence, humility, and respect for different lived experiences.

General Trainings
Beginner Trainings
Intermediate Trainings

Partnering

Skills related to developing networks and building alliances to achieve common goals.

General Trainings
Beginner Trainings
Intermediate Trainings
Advanced Trainings

Political Savvy

Knowledge and understanding of internal and external politics that affect organizations.

General Trainings
Beginner Trainings
Intermediate Trainings
Advanced Trainings

Problem Solving

Skills and knowledge related to problem identification and analysis, solution creation, and recommendations.

General Trainings
Beginner Trainings
Intermediate Trainings
 
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