Centre in pact with Nasscom for upskilling IT professionals in India

At WCIT and Nasscom leadership summit on Monday, PM Modi unveiled the Futureskills platform and addressed delegates through a video

The Centre is upbeat about upskilling the Indian IT workforce in emerging technologies and will partner the National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) in this regard. While signing a deal with Nasscom on Monday, the Union Ministry of Electronics and IT said it would support the training of 1 million professionals of the 4 million employees the industry body would reskill in the next three-four years.

The Nasscom has launched Futureskills, a cloud-based learning and management platform, to disseminate knowledge in eight areas such as virtual reality, robotic process automation, the internet of things, big data analytics, and 3D printing. Besides, it has identified 55 segments that will generate employment.

At the World Congress of Information Technology (WCIT) and Nasscom leadership summit on Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled the Futureskills platform and addressed delegates through a video conference. “I am sure the skills of the platform will greatly help India maintain its competitive edge. The key themes of this conference reflect the opportunities that await us. Disruptive technologies such as block-chain and the internet of things will have a deep impact on the way we live and work. They will require a rapid adaptation at our workplaces,” Modi said. The Centre's Digital India initiative is about bringing digital inclusion in empowerment, aided by the required infrastructure for digital services. “Leveraging technology in such a holistic manner was unthinkable some years ago,” he added.

IT Minister Ravishankar Prasad, who attended the event, said contrary to popular apprehensions, every new tech would create a hundred opportunities against every 10 jobs it displaced. India should be in the forefront of skilling its young people, he added. Lauding Nasscom's initiative, Prasad said the government was considering taking state governments on board while skilling a million tech professionals.

Nasscom President R Chandrasekhar described his organisation's plans of reskilling 2 million existing technology professionals and an additional 2 million entrants in emerging technological areas through the platform. India would not only provide a skilled IT workforce but also an e-learning platform for people all over the world, he said.

The platform will arm people with skills, and issue certificates to those who undergo training. This on-line initiative would be backed by physical training, said Chandrasekhar. On the proposed Data Security Act, Prasad said the committee headed by Justice Srikrishna was expected to submit its report on the proposed legislation.

Meanwhile, San Jose-headquartered software company Adobe Systems on Monday announced it was going to set up an advanced artificial intelligence lab in Hyderabad.  CEO Shantanu Narayen, who is taking part in the ongoing World Congress of Information Technology(WCIT) in the city, informed the decision at a meeting with Telangana IT minister K T Rama Rao on the sidelines of the event.