USDC collaborates with Kyndryl to develop “University-in-a-Box” for India’s higher education sector

Bengaluru: Kyndryl (NYSE: KD), the world's largest IT infrastructure services provider, and USDC Projects India Pvt Ltd, India’s fastest growing online higher education services provider announced a strategic collaboration to develop, maintain, and manage a state-of-the-art university management platform. The solution will provide enhanced and personalized learner experiences, streamline and optimize learner onboarding, and enhance the administration processes of universities for greater operational efficiency and regulatory governance.

Kyndryl and USDC will provide a unique, cloud-based University-in-a-Box solution that will streamline third-party integrations, regulatory compliance, accreditation, audit support and scalability to higher education institutions. USDC will offer the solution as a platform-as-a-service to universities, including JAIN University, which plans to enrol 100,000 learners for its online courses by 2025.

The solution will leverage Kyndryl’s global expertise in consulting services as well as application development and AI to manage the entire learner lifecycle, from admissions to collecting learner feedback, evaluating teacher effectiveness and responsiveness, and course assessments. AI-driven analytics will provide a 360-degree view of a learner and analyse data across multiple Key Performance Indicators (KPI) for effective decision making.

Kyndryl’s solution caters to the specific needs of universities, bringing efficiency in processes including AI-based exam evaluations and scoring, Optical Character Recognition (OCR)-based digitization to reduce paper usage, and an advanced attendance system. These enhancements will significantly improve operational efficiency and create new opportunities for potential investors and stakeholders interested in leveraging cutting-edge technologies within the education sector.

Tom Joseph, Co-founder USDC said, “This partnership reinforces USDC’s commitment to Indian universities and emphasizes our strong dedication to fostering lasting relationships. At USDC, we have always chosen the cutting-edge and the most innovative solutions, and embraced them in our day-to-day operations. Kyndryl’s solution is one such versatile proposition that has the potential to streamline and simplify our engagement with each global stakeholder. We have been and will continue investing in more such technologies that push the boundaries of the education system and ensure tech-enabled advancements.”

Lingraju Sawkar, President of Kyndryl India, said, “India’s higher education sector has shown a strong growth trend in recent years, and the implementation of the National Education Policy is slated to bring in wide reforms and open up more new opportunities. Kyndryl’s solution will enhance the learner’s experience at 1400 touchpoints through improved UI/UX, interactive LMS, faster issue resolutions, and feedback analytics. Our highly integrated industry leading architecture with superior performance, strong security, and data privacy will deliver NEP compliance, improved lead conversion, and meet global ranking standards enabling USDC to achieve its goal of becoming the world’s largest service provider for higher education institutes.”

“JAIN has always been driven by a relentless pursuit of innovation and a strong commitment to maintaining its leadership position in the dynamic online education landscape. Steadfast focus on embracing new technologies, emphasizing on learning experience, and empowering the system for smooth execution of our learning mechanism has been our forte. With Kyndryl as its ally, JAIN remains resolute in its mission to empower learners, nurture talent, and foster a society driven by knowledge, innovation, and growth,” said Dr. Chenraj Roychand, Chancellor of JAIN (Deemed-to-be-University).

Professor Dr. S. Sadagopan, Founder Director IIIT-Bangalore and Advisor, JAIN University added, “Being an early adopter of new technologies enables institutions to stay ahead of the curve, consistently offering innovative solutions that cater to the changing demands and preferences of the digital-native learner. By actively incorporating advancements into its educational practices, JAIN not only enriches the learning experiences of its learners but also paves the way for a paradigm shift in the educational excellence of the ChatGPT generation.”

India's National Education Policy seeks to transform the country's education system through outcome-based reforms that will deliver high-quality education to all citizens and further promote India’s position as a global knowledge hub. The policy provides for greater flexibility in online degree courses, several exit alternatives during a course of study and flexibility in subject selections and course credit transfers.