- IBM’s new CSR initiative aims to make over 2500 college students job ready
- Students will be skilled on new-age technologies like Data Science, Cloud Computing and Blockchain
IBM and NASSCOM Foundation have jointly launched a skill development programme with an objective to enhance the skills of college students from underserved communities and make them job ready for the Industry.
The New-Collar Employability Skills Programme, a CSR initiative, has already on-boarded more than 2500 candidates from 23 colleges across Karnataka, Haryana and the NCR.
The students from these Tier-2 and Tier-3 non-technical institutions will be skilled on new-age technologies like Data Science, Cloud Computing and Blockchain. The training will also cover life skill and functional English skills.
“If we want India’s talent base to compete in the global economy it becomes imperative to upskill them. Our collaboration with NASSCOM will help students to better align with market shifts and industry needs,” said Rumi Mallick Mitra, Leader, Corporate Social Responsibility, IBM India Pvt. Ltd.
Training to include both online and classroom sessions
NASSCOM Foundation and IBM has identified iPrimed and TMI as the training partners for the program.
The training will be delivered through a series of online and classroom sessions. The program will also have the students participate in project work and learning events like project competitions, tech talks, industry leadership talks and mentorship program, etc.
All the stakeholders including NASSCOM Foundation and training partners will also assist in providing placement support to these students after the completion of the programme.
Ashok Pamidi, CEO, NASSCOM Foundation, noted, “This is possibly the first time that a CSR initiative will be working to train the youth from Underserved communities on Future skills such as Data Science, Cloud and Blockchain.”
Advanced Diploma Programme, Mentor Platform
The IBM’s new-collar skilling initiatives in India also include:
- A two-year advanced diploma programme in emerging technologies created in collaboration with the Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, which will be available to 100 Industrial Training Institutes (ITI), including 50 all-women ITIs, over the next three years. IBM will also offer internships of up to five months to some students to further deepen their skills and understanding in emerging fields such as Cloud and AI.
Currently, 40 ITIs have been enlisted to initiate the two-year diploma programme in this academic year.
- As part of IBM’s ongoing engagement with the Government of India targeting young innovators through the Atal Tinkering Labs initiative, some 4,000 mentors and 600,000 mentees will benefit from a unique AI-powered Mentor Platform. Developed with the IBM Watson cognitive engine, the platform monitors mentor and mentee interactions to provide personalized support to those using the platform.
IBM has so far on-boarded 2,500 mentors, including 300 IBMers, to this platform by collaborating with the national Mentor of Change mission.
STEM for Girls Programme
In March this year, IBM announced a significant engagement in India to advance the skills and careers of more than two lakh female students in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) fields. The collaborations began with signing of agreements with three state governments—Karnataka, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh—with plans to widen to several other states in the next few months, including Rajasthan.
Today over 50,000 girls are being enrolled across 600+ govt schools across the country for the STEM for Girls programme to learn coding and new-collar skills. IBM is planning to enrol hundreds of more schools in the coming months.
