Microsoft, NASSCOM aim to skill 30,000 Telangana youths in AI by 2021

Microsoft and NASSCOM will skill 30,000 youths from Telangana in Artificial Intelligence under 'March to Million' initiative, for which the Telangana Academy for Skill and Knowledge (TASK) and Telangana State Council of Higher Education (TSCHE) have partnered with the two organisations.

The initiative, which aims at skilling one million youths in AI by 2021, was launched on Thursday.

AI Classroom Series course introduces students to the concepts of Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Data Science. It helps students enhance their employability by acquiring the skills that the industry requires. The sessions will commence from November 23.

"The industry today, irrespective of the domain, requires smart technology-backed solutions that reduce resource utilisation and enhance productivity. We need the youth of Telangana to be skilled in these areas. I am glad that TASK and TSCHE have partnered for this initiative. The students of our state must make use of this opportunity to skill themselves in these emerging technologies," said Industry and Information Technology Minister KT Rama Rao, who had announced 2020 to be the year of Artificial Intelligence.

"I appreciate Microsoft and NASSCOM FutureSkills for bringing this initiative to Telangana. The world of technology is evolving very fast and we need our students to be a part of this technology revolution. An initiative such as this will help upgrade the talent pool in our state and enhance Telangana's appeal to global organisations for making investments in the state," said Jayesh Ranjan, Principal Secretary, Information Technology.

Shrikant Sinha, CEO of TASK, said the course will be a combination of self-learning modules, hands-on workshops, live demos and virtual instructor-led classes by experts from Microsoft and NASSCOM, followed by an assignment and finally certification from Microsoft and NASSCOM. The course is open to students of all streams.

Papi Reddy, Chairman of TSCHE, said the programme gives learners the flexibility to learn at a pace and time convenient to them.

Dr Rohini Srivathsa, National Technology Officer, Microsoft India, said the digital transformation of India is driving demand for tech-enabled jobs across every industry and with it the need for digital skills. Technologies like AI are becoming enablers for every business today, making the need for creating an AI-ready ecosystem vital for India's economic and social value creation.

Amit Aggarwal, CEO IT-ITES Sector Skill Council NASSCOM and Co-Architect, NASSCOM FutureSkills, said that digital skills like AI are in demand across all sectors and within roles that traditionally did not require them.

The IT exports in Telangana rose by 18 per cent in 2019-20, propelling the state to the second position in India based on IT exports. The 'March to Million' project is another major step towards creating an AI-ready talent pool in Telangana, thereby strengthening the IT ecosystem in the state, said the IT Department.

--IANS

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