TechReady Illinois, Gies Business offering online courses at steep discount to Illinoisans hurt by COVID-19 crisis

Gies College of Business is continuing its commitment to creating life-changing access to business education by participating in the launch of TechReady Illinois, an effort to help Illinois residents hurt by COVID-19 gain new digital skills at steeply discounted tuition rates. Through TechReady Illinois – founded by the Discovery Partners Institute (DPI) and P33 – Gies Business is offering its Introduction to Business Analytics and Information Economics Specialization for FREE and its Business Analytics Skills iCademy at a 75% discount.

“We are committed to making a great business education accessible and affordable to learners around the world, and the current economic climate created an opportunity where we could make a real difference,” said Jeffrey R. Brown, dean of Gies College of Business. “We are proud to be able to partner with the Discovery Partners Institute and P33 to help as many Illinois residents as possible get back on their feet and learn new skills that can prepare them for a lifetime of success.”

The Introduction to Business Analytics and Information Economics Specialization, which is offered for FREE for any displaced Illinois worker, provides an overview of the basics of analytic technologies so learners can understand the value of processing data and making predictions, diagnosing systems or situations, and prescribing actions that can help drive businesses. This Specialization includes three courses. Each course is four weeks long and requires a time commitment of 4-6 hours per course per week.

The Business Analytics Skills iCademy, which is discounted to $24.75 from an original price of $99, prepares learners to be able to assemble data, create data visualizations, learn data analytic languages, and take advantage of powerful machine learning techniques. The entire iCademy takes 30 hours to complete, and it is a self-paced offering that provides learners the flexibility to participate at their own pace.

“We have a proven track record of developing online programs that can create a real and immediate impact on the lives of learners of all ages,” said Associate Dean Brooke Elliott, who oversees strategy for Gies’ online programs. “As home to the University of Illinois-Deloitte Foundation Center for Business Analytics, we are recognized as world leaders in this field, and we are proud to use these offerings in a way that could help hundreds of thousands of Illinoisans.”

Through TechReady Illinois, courses will be offered in one of four tracks: data and analytics, cloud computing, cybersecurity, and software development, with opportunities to obtain a certificate upon completion. To participate, residents will complete virtual courses, some conducted by faculty from participating institutions; others will be run by partners, including Coursera and i.c.stars. Many of these courses will lead to certificates.

TechReady Illinois is a joint venture between partners P33 and Discovery Partners Institute (DPI). Participating institutions include the University of Illinois System, University of Chicago, the Illinois Institute of Technology, and City Colleges of Chicago. In order to serve a broad set of Illinoisans, TechReady Illinois offers programs valuable to both experienced technologies looking to sharpen their skills and novices interested in pivoting to a tech career for the first time. Over the coming weeks, the teams at P33 and DPI will continue to expand the TechReady Illinois program with new certificates, coaching opportunities, and benefits.

For more information on TechReady Illinois, please visit TechReadyIllinois.com.