IBM has established Centres of Excellence (CoEs) in 10 colleges in Karnataka to create a platform for the development of software skills among students. The CoEs will teach students skillsets on DB2, WebSphere, Lotus, Rational and Tivoli - as well as help them develop tech business solutions.
The CoEs were launched at M S Ramaiah Institute of Technology; PES Institute of Technology; Acharya Institute of Technology, PES School of Engineering, CMR Institute of Technology and Dayanand Sagar college of Engineering, all in Bangalore; Babuji Institute of Technology, Davangere; B V B College of Engineering, Hubli; Nitte Mahalinga Adyantaya Institute of Technology, Nitte; and National Institute of Engineering, Mysore.
“Today’s services-and-knowledge-based economy has altered the industry landscape, and it requires different skills and ways of learning. IBM
CoEs are an extension of IBM’s commitment to nurture skills for the 21st century driven by the services economy,” said Himanshu Goyal, country manager — academic initiative, developer works and globalisation, IBM India/South Asia, in a statement.
“The COEs will ensure that the students learn not only how to use the technology in real applications, but also how to continue learning once they graduate so that they stay current in a rapidly changing environment,” he said.
IBM will follow a two-pronged approach by providing these colleges with access to technologies relevant to the market and simultaneously ensuring that the right skills are taught. Students will be able to gain first-hand experience of software products installed at the campus. Through this initiative, IBM will work closely with the colleges to leverage them as centres of learning, Goyal said.
The colleges will provide infrastructure and systems while IBM will extend its software suites free of charge.