It’s about time we highlight some good news going on in the world of software. Last month, as part of the White House’s Summer Jobs+ initiative—created to spur businesses and organizations to provide employment to needy youth—saw the launch of SummerQAmp, a “a nationwide initiative to train a new workforce in high-tech skills and help create tech jobs for American youth,” according to the announcement.

From the SummerQAmp Website:

The goal of SummerQAmp is to introduce Quality Assurance (QA) as a potential career path to American youth (ages 18-24) who are unaware of the opportunity by allowing them to gain valuable work experience as summer interns at software companies. During the SummerQAmp internships, we will provide participants with fundamental understanding of how software works and give them access to an educational resource to assist them in preparing for a potential career in software development.

The following folks, as stated in the announcement, are leading the newly launched endeavor: “CTO of the White House Aneesh Chopra, musician Jon Bon Jovi, GroupMe co-founder Steve Martocci, Gilt Groupe's Vice President of Quality Engineering Kevin Haggard, and Onswipe's CEO Jason Baptiste.”

Yes, you read that right: Jon “Wanted Dead or Alive” Bon Jovi will somehow be helping children learn about QA.

Grant Gross of IDG News has more on the program and writes that “Bon Jovi serves on a presidential panel focused on community programs and helped connect the program's organizers with each other, participants said.”

From IDG News, via PCWorld:

Many software QA jobs have been outsourced to other countries, but the program is an attempt to grow those jobs in the U.S., said Kevin Haggard, vice president of quality engineering at Gilt Groupe. "We need to create more tech jobs and keep the U.S. at the forefront of innovation," he said. "People don't realize this is a very viable career opportunity."

The new program is a response to President Barack Obama's call in January for businesses and other organizations to create 250,000 summer internship opportunities for low-income young people, organizers said. Obama called for businesses to offer internships that can lead to long-term careers.

The announcement was even covered by the non-tech media. Joshua R. Weaver of The Root did a helpful write-up geared to educate the layman on how exactly this program works.

From The Root:

"[Quality assurance] is the absolute right starting point for every young person to feel connected to this vibrant community," Chopra said during a conference call.  

Unlike many tech jobs, quality assurance, or QA, positions often do not require an advanced skill set or a college degree in computer programming. "For many, to see themselves in this career path, there's a desire to go through formal learning," he said. "But for many young people, that's perceived as a hurdle -- an educational burden gone too far."