NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--UiPath, Inc. (NYSE: PATH), a leading enterprise automation software company, today announced its groundbreaking Academic Alliance program now includes more than 1,000 higher education institutions and workforce development organizations that bring specially designed robotic process automation (RPA) curricula and free UiPath software to the next generation of workers.
New Alliance members include the University of Florida, Loyola University of Maryland, and Bentley University, among others. UiPath Academic Alliance institutions—comprised of universities, colleges, government bodies, professional workforce organizations, and not-for-profits—have educated more than 245,000 students and professionals on automation in 63 countries through the program in its first two years. To date, the Alliance has influenced more than 30,000 of these individuals in gaining employment, according to a UiPath survey of more than 200 Academic Alliance members.
Organizations are embracing an automation-first strategy—meaning any process that can be automated, should be automated. According to a recent Deloitte survey, 78% of organizations are already implementing RPA, while Gartner predicts 90% of large organizations globally will have adopted some form of RPA by 2022. Today’s technical and business professionals must have the skills and expertise to identify processes that should be automated via RPA, and the ability to rapidly deploy the technology.
“The main reason I am enthusiastic about teaching robotic process automation with UiPath is the potential it has to provide opportunities for students,” said Mary Beth Whitman Goodrich, a professor of instruction at University of Texas at Dallas and an author. “One of my former graduate students recently shared that learning UiPath as a student allowed him to be promoted in his organization faster. On one of his projects, he was able to conceptualize, develop, and implement an RPA process that saves his organization 2,000 manual hours each year. Also, one of my undergraduate students shared that having robotic process automation on his resume caught the eye of 4 out of 4 top tier CPA firms he interviewed with. I see this trend continuing and increasing.”
“My students said that their UiPath training was absolutely helpful for their financial services jobs. Their opportunity to learn directly from both academic instructors and practitioners prepared them to initiate and execute process automation projects on their first jobs,” said Kofi Appiah Okyere, Director of Graduate Accounting Programs at Syracuse University.
The UiPath Academic Alliance is a global RPA knowledge ecosystem helping to shape the future of work. Institutions that join the Alliance are provided free courses, free UiPath software for students and educators, and the ability to network with the highly active community of global RPA professionals and users.
Some notable Academic Alliance educators and their programs include:
- Dr. Christian Langmann, Munich University of Applied Sciences, Germany: Dr. Langmann has trained more than 700 students via the Alliance in bachelor’s, master’s, and MBA programs as well as professionals in accounting and finance.
- Tyler Krimmel, George Brown College, Canada: the RPA program created by Krimmel in 2019 is part of the college’s regular curriculum and part of Continuing Education. Students have worked with non-profits during their projects, and many have achieved full-time employment due to RPA.
- Ugan Maistry, FIRtech, South Africa: Ugan is CEO at FIRtech, a vocational school in South Africa, where the youth unemployment rate is 55%. His RPA training programs target unemployed youth, who often do not have any undergraduate education or experience in technology, at the end of which they earn internships in RPA.
“We envision a world in which humanity is unburdened of repetitive tasks and freed to embrace more creative, strategic, and fulfilling work,” said Tom Clancy, Senior Vice President of Learning at UiPath. “The future of work is already here, and demand for RPA skills creates an incredible opportunity for students and professionals everywhere to develop their talents in automation through education and become valuable employees and decision-makers.”
RPA market revenue is on target to meet an estimate of $2.9 billion in 2021, according to a recent report by Forrester Research, Inc.1 In addition, the total available market for automation solutions is estimated at $65 billion, highlighting how early most organizations are in their automation journeys and the need for skilled workers to support long-term, wide-ranging enterprise automation initiatives.
Click here to learn more about the UiPath Academic Alliance and how to join.
About UiPath
UiPath has a vision to deliver the Fully Automated Enterprise™, one where companies use automation to unlock their greatest potential. UiPath offers an end-to-end platform for automation, combining the leading Robotic Process Automation (RPA) solution with a full suite of capabilities that enable every organization to rapidly scale digital business operations.
1 “The RPA Market Has Reached A Defining Moment”, by Craig Le Clair, et. al., Aug. 13, 2021, Forrester Research, Inc.
