The Interchain Foundation (ICF), the Swiss non-profit and steward of the Cosmos ecosystem, recently announced the launch of the Interchain Developer Academy, a free online training program “for software developers looking to migrate careers into the highly competitive blockchain industry and gain exposure to the technology stack of the second-largest blockchain ecosystem — Cosmos.”
By funding places for 5,000 developers over the next three years, The Interchain Foundation seeks “to combine education with industry exposure for developers from all backgrounds looking for a deeper, more nuanced understanding of open-source, decentralized protocols.”
The Interchain Academy will “support 450 developers in 2022, with 150 spaces for developers to partake in its initial launch cohort commencing 12 May.”
Providing comprehensive mentorship, participants “will receive support from experts to help answer their queries and guide them through the program.”
Participants will “get an introduction to blockchain via self-paced training, expected to take 60 hours over 6-weeks with the training to take place entirely online.”
As noted in an update shared with CI, the program includes “an introduction to blockchains and cryptography, while learning about the Cosmos SDK, Tendermint consensus algorithm and Inter-Blockchain Communication.” Following successful completion of the exam, “alumni who pass the exam will be awarded a certificate of completion.”
With the exponential growth of the blockchain industry, there is “a blockchain developer talent shortage impeding businesses from capturing the strategic value of blockchain and limiting the wider deployment of the technology.”
Crypto-related job postings in the US “surged to 395% between 2020 and 2021.” The Electric Capital Developer Report “found only 18,000 active developers in the blockchain ecosystem in 2021.” While the blockchain community “has a larger developer footprint than ever before, it still represents a small, and rapidly expanding, percentage of software engineers globally.”
Noam Cohen, Developer Relations Engineer at the Interchain Foundation, said:
“We’re seeing demand for blockchain and open-source developers growing faster than ever. When you consider that less than 1,000 full-time developers are responsible for $100 billion in value linked to blockchains built with the Cosmos stack, you really start to see the pressure the industry is coming under for talent. We’re proud to be launching the Interchain Developer Academy as a resource to help address the blockchain demand gap and tap into global talent capable of not only filling that demand but taking the industry forward.”
Committed to training 5,000 people over the next three years, participants will “level up their blockchain careers and gain exposure to leading companies in the sector.”
Participation in the Interchain Developer Academy “will also introduce participants to the thriving, diverse, and mission-driven Cosmos community united by its passion for building on the forefront of ethical tech.”
Cohen remarked:
“It was critical for us to ensure we are getting our developers in front of companies that are hiring in the space. This program focuses on hands-on coding and practice to get participants ready to code with Cosmos as soon as they pass the training program. We’re proud to be helping developers enter a sector that will both challenge and provide unique opportunities for them as they tackle some of the most important and complex challenges facing the industry. The introduction of the Interchain Developer Academy will allow people to come together to build the next generation of the internet regardless of geography or other constraints,”
The Interchain Foundation funds, “stewards, and advances the Cosmos Ecosystem.”
Actively supporting and incentivizing development within the ecosystem, the Interchain Foundation plays “an integral role in the community-driven initiatives to drive innovation within Cosmos.”
Cosmos is “a decentralized network of independent, scalable, sustainable, and interoperable blockchains; there are more than 262 apps and services in the Cosmos network, including Binance Chain, Terra, and Crypto.org, with over $148 billion of digital assets under management.”
Billy Rennekamp, Cosmos Hub Lead at The Interchain Foundation, said:
“There is a growing contingent of the tech industry’s best and brightest leaving their Web2 jobs to work in crypto. Community optimism, greenfield tech opportunities, and the allure of career momentum are attracting top talent. Spurred by worries about the control and dominance of the biggest tech companies, many engineers are witnessing a transformational moment that comes along once every few decades to upend the status quo and rewards those who spot the seismic shift before the rest of the world. Now is the time to join the movement to build a decentralized internet.”
Developers interested in applying for the Interchain Developer Academy “can register at academy.cosmos.network.”