Samsung gears up to create ecosystem for its new Tizen OS

Samsung India has, to build a supportive system for Tizen, its new operating system (OS) decided on a training programme in 78 technical centres.

This will be in partnership with the Union ministry of micro, small and medium enterprises. Kalraj Mishra, the minister in charge, says the initiative will strengthen the government’s plan for imparting skills to youth — the target is to do so for 300 million people by 2020.

Earlier this year, Samsung launched its new OS through its Z1 smartphone in India. The company is already in a tie-up with major technical institutions for having students work on createing various applications (apps) and software to supplement Tizen.

Sources say Samsung is working on a launch for more devices on the Tizen in this country. “India is increasingly emerging as a key player in the development of next-generation technology ecosystems” says H C Hong, president and chief operating officer, Samsung India Electronics.

The company signed a memorandum of understanding on Wednesday with the MSME ministry for a month’s skill development course based on the Tizen OS in its 10 existing Samsung Technical Schools. The new institutes offering digital courses, named Samsung Digital Academy, will come up in its existing technical schools and other premises as well.

The course will offer theory and lab-based training in the digital academies, on the Tizen platform, app development process, testing and de-bugging. It will also offer training on Application Program Interfaces, and packaging and installation of designed apps on various devices. Samsung says on course completion, people can be absorbed by the company or form their own ventures.

The minister said, “ To make in India, we first have to skill its people. Adding value to goods and services can only flourish if people are trained properly.”

According to a Labour Bureau Report last year, only two per cent of the country's workforce is formally skilled, compared to 96 per cent in South Korea and 80 per cent in Japan.