GCP – Build your cloud skills at Next ‘20 OnAir: No-cost training opportunities

Every week throughout Google Cloud Next ‘20 OnAir, we’re focusing on a different theme to help you grow your cloud skills through a series of guided hands-on labs, talks by Google Cloud’s technical experts, and competitions. 

Guided hands-on labs

If you’re new to Google Cloud, or brushing up on the basics, join us for Cloud Study Jam every Wednesday during which Google Cloud experts will review relevant cloud training and certification resources, lead you through hands-on labs, and answer your questions live. The sessions will be hosted in Americas and Asia Pacific-friendly times. 

By participating in the labs featured in our Cloud Study Jam sessions, you’ll also be working towards earning your firstskill badge on Qwiklabs. Digital skill badges allow you to demonstrate your growing Google Cloud-recognized skillset and share your progress with your network. You can earn the badges by completing a series of hands-on labs, leading up to a final assessment challenge lab, to test your skills.

Here’s a taste of what to expect from the Cloud Study Jam sessions:

Infrastructure sessions 
On July 29, our Cloud Study Jam events will be all about infrastructure. Hands-on labs will focus on cloud environment provisioning, introducing cloud monitoring best practices, configuring networking, and more. In these value-packed sessions, you’ll also learn how to best prepare for Google Cloud certifications such as the Associate Cloud Engineer and the highest-paying IT certification for the past two years, Professional Cloud Architect. 

Application modernization sessions 
Explore how to modernize your applications using Kubernetes on August 26. Participate in hands-on labs that demonstrate how Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) can be used to perform workload orchestration and effortlessly run continuous delivery pipelines. You’ll also have a chance to learn about the Google Cloud Professional Cloud DevOps Engineer certification. 

AI sessions
Dive into Google Cloud AI on September 2 and learn how to address real-world challenges at scale. See how AI can enable businesses to continue interacting with their customer base through the use of virtual agents in hands-on labs. Understand why certification matters and how you can take the next steps on this path. You’ll also have the opportunity to get your machine learning questions answered by Lak Lakshmanan, Head of Data Analytics and AI Solutions at Google Cloud. 

Talks with Google Cloud’s technical experts

Every Friday starting on July 24, you can participate in Google Cloud Talks by DevRel. Ask Google Cloud Developer Relations team members your questions on Google Cloud solutions including machine learning, AI, serverless, app modernization, and more. The team will also provide a summary of each week’s topic and deliver technical talks to supplement the week’s programming. Talks by DevRel will be hosted in Americas and Asia Pacific-friendly times. We’ll also have details soon on the sessions running in Japan. 

Competitions

Join our weekly Cloud Hero game to take your skills to the next level. Each game will have a collection of labs relevant to that week’s theme. You can pick and choose which hands-on labs to do, or try them all. Play with other attendees and compete to see yourself on the leaderboard. The weekly game link and its access code will be released on Tuesdays at 9 am PDT here. 

Ready to get started? Register for our Cloud Study Jam sessions. You can also find our full schedule of training opportunities on the Learning Hub.