TCS to scale up Ignite program

2,000 Science graduates to be transformed into Software professionals in 2007-08

New Delhi, August 22, 2007: Tata Consultancy Services (BSE: TCS.BO, NSE: TCS.NS), a leading IT services, business solutions and outsourcing organisation, announced that the pilot program of Ignite "� the company's pioneering initiative to help science graduates transform into software professionals "� has been successfully completed by 500 trainees who have been inducted into the company's operations thereafter.

TCS plans to scale up the Ignite program to hire 2,000 science graduates in the current financial year. Designed as an intensive seven-month programme with live project experience, TCS Ignite aims to equip maths and science graduates with the skills necessary to pursue a career in the fast-growing IT industry.

The pilot batch of TCS Ignite consisted of 500 science graduates selected from over 200 colleges spread over nine states. Over 60% of the batch comprised of women belonging to various states including the North Eastern states which have not been traditional 'talent sourcing destinations' for IT companies.

All five hundred science graduates were recruited through a rigorous selection process across the country. Over 65% of them are first generation graduates in their families, while approximately 60% of the pilot batch came from Tier III cities, Class C towns and villages.

Commenting on the success of the Ignite program, S. Ramadorai, CEO & Managing Director said: "TCS Ignite has proved that with the right learning methodologies science graduates can be empowered with knowledge and skills relevant to this sector, thereby developing new sources of talent to sustain the growth of the Indian IT industry." Mr Ramadorai added: "The program also highlights this organisation's commitment to social transformation. By recruiting students from all corners of the country, TCS Ignite hopes to spread the economic benefits of participating in the IT growth story to many more students. Our experience with the first batch of 500 graduates of TCS Ignite programme has further strengthened our resolve to scale this initiative rapidly."

TCS Ignite is a new initiative in learning that is specially designed to build a strong foundation in software through a customized curriculum. It begins with logic and problem solving methods and moves to their applications in the real world.

In the initial phase, fundamental concepts of various programming paradigms including Object Oriented Programming are learned by playing with intelligent tutors, developed at leading American universities, that help trainees learn programming and application development, proving that learning can be fun.

The course structure is not only just IT- intensive, but also has a high focus on soft skills, customer-orientation and project management. Ignite promotes blended learning through a mix of broadcast sessions, intensive lab-work and workshops. The Ignite curriculum is specially designed to bring in live project exposure. One component of the training is dedicated to customer project specific training, during which trainees learn customer-centric skills as per the project requirements. Subsequently, the trainees work for three months in the live project environment, and get absorbed in the real world of projects.