IBM Collaborates with National Skill Development Corporation to Offer Free Digital Skills Training

IBM has announced its collaboration with National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) to offer ‘Open P-TECH’, a free digital education platform, focused on emerging technologies and professional development skills. As a part of the collaboration, IBM will curate online courses from Open P-TECH platform and offer it to users via NSDC’s eSkill India portal  to empower Indian youth on various skills to succeed in future careers.

Under the partnership, IBM  will catalogue its 30 + Open P-TECH courses on eSkill India portal, with 60+ hours of learning, as a knowledge partner. IBM will provide online courses in emerging technologies like Cyber Security, Blockchain, AI and Machine Learning, Cloud, Internet of Things, along with professional skills, like Design Thinking to learners between 18 to 22 years for free.

Dr. Manish Kumar, MD and CEO, National Skill Development Corporation said, "The power of technology should be leveraged for reaching out to the youth with scale and quality. Online trainings through digital platforms like Open P-TECH and eSkill India need to be accelerated to overcome geographical and socio-economic barriers. Digital learning will enable higher participation of women in the labour workforce as the scope for employability will increase.  Overall, digital learning will boost prospects of employment and livelihood for the youth."

eSkill India is  a digital skilling initiative from NSDC that aggregates digital learning resources through various Indian and global knowledge partnerships, to enable access to best-in-class learning resources for the India youth. Currently, over 16 lakh minutes of digital courses and content is available across various sectors in multiple languages, providing learners with the technology and skills needed to prosper in a rapidly transforming digital world. 

Sandip Patel, Managing Director, IBM India/South Asia said, “As the pandemic is driving the digital transition to happen more quickly, there must be new forms of learning if we want to empower young learners with technical and market-related skills. Our collaboration with NSDC is a significant milestone to equip the next generation with digital skills. Open P-TECH will make foundational learning in emerging technology and professional skills for the youth more accessible. Aligned to the country’s SkillIndia mission, we are taking another step in the evolution of our digital education approach to help the next generation of professionals have the exciting future they deserve.”

IBM’s Open P-TECH, a free digital education platform, focused on emerging technologies and professional development skills, was launched in India in March 2020. The platform equips learners and educators with foundational technology competencies, along with workplace learning skills. Under the partnership, Open P-TECH platform will offer courses to  develop soft skills, interpersonal skills, problem solving — a set of 11 key skills which are generally not available in a college curriculum, but are  high in demand and are valued in the job market. Currently available in English, the platform will soon be available in various Indian languages - starting with Hindi, followed by 10 Indian languages including Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, Punjabi, Gujarati, Sindhi, Urdu, Bengali. 

The partnership will offer both learners and educators with direct access to digital learning resources in various trending specializations, thus providing a great way to jump-start career exploration including earning industry supported digital badges. Students can share these digital badges on their online resumes.

In India, previously, IBM has partnered with Directorate General of Training at the Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, Central Board of Secondary Education, Niti Aayog and State Department of Education, and State Skills Missions to impact more than 4 lakhs learners and students across 22+ states through its education and skilling initiatives.

Open P-TECH is now available to students and teachers worldwide. Register here: https://open.ptech.org

NSDC and Simplilearn Announce Collaboration to Upskill Professionals in Digital Skills Across India

 * The partnership will help deliver learning in digital skills and technologies 

* Access to over 1,000 hours of free eLearning, available exclusively on the Simplilearn Android and iOS mobile apps

The temporary shutdown of institutions and universities due to the COVID-19 lockdown has affected the overall learning of a large number of students and professionals alike. To support the continuity of digital skilling of the Indian workforce, Simplilearn, a global provider of digital skills training, today announced its partnership with National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC). Through this collaboration, Simplilearn will host more than 1,000 hours of free learning in digital skills and technologies for learners across India. Aspirants can find program details on NSDC’s eLearning portal - eSkill India - and access the learning programs on the Simplilearn Android mobile app (bit.ly/simplicertified) and iOS mobile app (apple.co/30pnzsm)

Aligned to the Skill India Mission, the collaboration aims to create a future-ready workforce by leveraging the power of technology.   Strengthening the digital learning ecosystem, both Simplilearn and NSDC will enable access to over 1,000 hours of digital programs and technologies under the categories of AI and Machine Learning, Big Data, Data Science & Business Intelligence, Cyber Security, Software Development, Project management, and Digital marketing. All programs are designed with a unique industry relevant curriculum, which provides learners theoretical understanding and enables them to get an indepth knowledge about the evolving industry trends. 

Commenting on the collaboration, Dr. Manish Kumar, MD & CEO, NSDC, said, “The dissemination of future-ready skills require technology platforms with high outreach capabilities. Through its partnerships, NSDC promotes online learning for accessing exciting work-opportunities that the fast-changing world offers.”

Speaking on the partnership, Krishna Kumar, Founder and CEO Simplilearn, said, “In these uncertain times we have witnessed a surge in the usage of digital platforms and technologies, indicating the creation of new job roles in the days to come. It is of utmost importance that the current workforce is well-equipped with digital skills to meet the industry demands of tomorrow. As part of Simplilearn’s continued partnership with NSDC, we are happy to support and contribute to NSDC’s efforts in the skilling of India’s workforce to prepare for a digital future. Through Simplilearn’s mobile app, learners will have the opportunity to upskill in IT and new technologies, including artificial intelligence, machine learning, and data science, making for a job-ready workforce.”

To date, Simplilearn has helped more than one million professionals across 150 countries upskill and prepare for the digital future and now aims to help build a career for the future professionals in the field of Information Technology. 

NSDC’s eSkill India portal provides learners a platform to explore online skill-courses anytime, anywhere. The portal leverages technology to enable skill seekers to accelerate their learning through methods like virtual learning and remote classroom. eSkillIndia catalogues more than 450 e-learning courses in multiple Indian languages through leading knowledge providers.

Microsoft to provide free training for the unemployed

Microsoft Corp announced that it would be giving away more than 30,000 vouchers over the next 90 days to help unemployed people in Washington state get new computer skills.

The vouchers will entitle them to take computer classes for free -- either in person or online -- and take Microsoft certification exams at no or low cost.

At a news conference in Seattle, Gov. Chris Gregoire commended Microsoft for stepping up to the challenge of helping the nation come out of the recession stronger.

"When this downturn ends, we will need more skilled workers ready to enter the job market. Microsoft's generosity will provide thousands of men and women the skills they need to work with the software that runs our businesses," Gregoire said.

Washington's WorkSource job centers across Washington started giving out the vouchers on Monday. Washington state had the 17th highest unemployment rate in the country last month with a jobless rate of 8.4 per cent.

The vouchers are part of a new national programme Microsoft announced at the National Governors Conference in February. Elevate America hopes to offer job training to as many as 2 million Americans over the next three years.

Sue T Carter of Bellevue picked up one of the first vouchers. She said she has been working part time for more than two years and really needs to find a job that will help her pay her rent, because she is less than a month away from eviction.

Carter earned several college degrees years ago and has picked up most of her computer skills on her own, but she knows companies seek employees with professional training.

"Knowledge is power and I'm willing to do anything to make myself a more viable candidate in the workplace," Carter said. "It always makes you more viable if you've got more skills to offer."

She expressed enthusiasm that the training programme is not costing taxpayers anything. Brad Smith, Microsoft senior vice president and general counsel, said the company also is excited about the public-private partnership because it will help both people and businesses.

"This programme is all about equipping people with the new skills they'll need to get a job in the changing economy," Smith said.

The free training will be for Microsoft software, from basic technology literacy to intermediate-level courses on programmes such as Excel and PowerPoint.

Agencies