Software giant IBM has collaborated with National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) in a bid to provide ‘Open P-TECH’, a free digital education platform which emphasizes on the emerging technologies and professional development skills. With this collaboration, IBM will develop special online courses from the Open P-TECH platform and provide it to users through NSDC’s eSkill India portal and help empower youth in India on several skills for succeeding in future careers.
Dr Manish Kumar, MD and CEO, National Skill Development Corporation stated, “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 labor workforce as the scope for employability will increase. Overall, digital learning will boost the prospects of employment and livelihood for the youth.”
As per the partnership, IBM will list its 30 + Open P-TECH courses on eSkill India portal, with 60+ hours of learning, as a knowledge partner. IBM will be providing online courses in emerging technologies such Cybersecurity, 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.
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.”
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NSDC run eSkill India is a digital skilling initiative that combines digital learning resources via various Indian and global knowledge collaborations, for enabling access to best-in-class learning resources for the youth in India. As of now, more than 16 lakh minutes of digital courses and content is available on various sectors in multiple languages, providing learners with the technology and skills needed to prosper in a rapidly transforming digital world.
IBM’s Open P-TECH is a free digital education platform, which emphasizes on emerging technologies and professional development skills. It was launched in India in March 2020.