About 5,000 youth from regions across Karnataka, Telangana, and Delhi-NCR are now skilled in Data Science and Cloud computing, with over 2,000 of them placed in jobs through a program by IBM in partnership with NASSCOM Foundation aimed at making India’s youth future-ready.
This had been done as part of the IBM SkillsBuild career readiness program. IBM and NASSCOM Foundation worked with 23 colleges to certify enrolled students on IBM-certified courses on emerging technologies, including Data Science and Cloud computing, in 2019.
In its first year, this unique program engaged students with an on-campus, 250-hour-long blended training model that uses online and face-to-face training to build skills in new-age technologies like Data Science and Cloud computing.
Subsequently, the program pivoted into a completely online mode of education and learning due to COVID restrictions in 2020. Students from 23 Tier-2 and Tier-3 non-technical institutions were trained by partners TMI and primed.
Several colleges in Dharwar, Bagalkot, Gadag, Koppal, Nargund, Bengaluru, and Tumkur in Karnataka and Faridabad in Haryana were also a part of the program. After the training, IBM and NASSCOM Foundation have conducted placement drives across the country and placed over 2000 students in leading technology organizations despite the pandemic.
Manoj Balachandran, Leader, Corporate Social Responsibility, IBM India/South Asia, said aligned to the Skill India mission IBM is committed to bridging the skills gap by working with an ecosystem of industry partners, academia, and government to provide professional and technical skills to students and teachers.