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Developers who build voice applications for Amazon Echo and other devices using Alexa will now have a new way to validate their skills, with Amazon launching a new AWS Certified Alexa Skill Builder – Specialty certification. This is the first time that Amazon offers a certification program to developers Alexa, says the company.
Certification programs are standard in the technology industry – and AWS already offers a training program and certifications that allow companies to identify professionals with cloud expertise and an understanding of AWS .
The new Alexa certification will be a specialty of the AWS program and will validate those who fully understand all aspects of the development of Alexa voice applications.
This includes more practical questions – how to develop, test, validate, and troubleshoot skills issues, using the Alexa Developer Console, managing operations and skill lifecycles, and more. But it will also enter into higher level concepts, such as the "value of voice" and how the voice user experience should evolve – what many Alexa developers still seem to struggle to cope with.
For starters, developers can check out a new exam guide, which helps them better understand Alexa's skill development through tutorials, technical documentation and more. Amazon also offers custom training courses available online.
Once ready, developers who want certification can create an AWS Training account and schedule their exam.
According to Amazon, the goal is to create "more opportunities to create engaging voice experiences" that can reach customers with over 100 million Alexa devices available in the market.
In other words, Amazon wants Alexa's developers, familiar with skills building, to learn not only the basics, but also industry best practices. Use this knowledge to create more skills that will really be useful to clients.
The certification program comes at a time when smart speakers have reached critical mbad in the US, but the third-party skills ecosystem has not experienced its "app store moment," as recently said Bloomberg.
It can be argued that the music, timers and controls of the smart home are small successes for smart speakers, but these are native features. Alexa does not know how much of Alexa's third-party skills will have a long-term future if consumer adoption continues to be a problem.
In the meantime, however, companies remain enthusiastic about the platform, given the large installed base for Alexa. Every day, an organization announces the launch of its skills. (Today, for example, it's the Red Cross.)
"Organizations' demand for qualified professionals able to develop skills for new voice-based workloads is increasing," said Kevin Kelly, director, AWS Certification and Education Programs, in a statement. "This new certification validates these skills with the industry's only reference focused on developing Alexa's skills," he added.
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