Microsoft and NASSCOM to skill 30,000 Telangana youth in Artificial Intelligence

Telangana Academy for Skill and Knowledge (TASK), along with Telangana State Council of Higher Education (TSCHE), has joined hands with Microsoft and NASSCOM FutureSkills to implement the "March to Million" initiative in Telangana. This mega initiative, which aims at skilling one million youth in Artificial Intelligence by 2021, was launched today morning.

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 today requires. The sessions will commence from the 23rd of November.

Minister for IT K. T. Rama Rao, who had announced 2020 to be the year of Artificial Intelligence said "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."

Jayesh Ranjan, Principal Secretary, Department of ITE&C, said, "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."

Speaking about the initiative, Sri Shrikant Sinha, CEO of TASK, said, "The focus of TASK is to make students more employable and we believe that this initiative a strong step in this direction. 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 program aims to skill 30,000 youth in Telangana. The program gives learners the flexibility to learn at a pace and time that is convenient to them. I urge all our youth to make use of this opportunity and learn the concepts of Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and Data Science because these are three areas where hundreds of jobs are going to open up in the near future, especially post the pandemic."

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. We are committed to empowering learners across the country to skill them in AI and partner in the journey to thrive in a digital future"

Dr. Goverdan, Rector, JNTU commented 'JNTU has commenced with 5 new B.Tech. CSE programs with specialisation in AI & ML, Data Sciences, Cyber Security, IoT and Software Engineering respectively".

Amit Aggarwal, CEO IT-ITES Sector Skill Council NASSCOM & Co-Architect, NASSCOM FutureSkills said, "Digital skills like AI are in demand across all sectors and within roles that traditionally did not require them. Non-tech professionals may not need advance certifications, but they will still need to become digitally fluent and aware. Everyone today needs to develop digital fluency on new-age technologies. We are delighted that the Government of Telangana has recognised the need and has decided to adopt the AI Classroom Series, a joint initiative by NASSCOM FutureSkills and Microsoft in the State. We are hopeful that this step will pave way to build an AI-ready talent for the state and accelerate the development of AI Ecosystem in the state."

The IT exports in Telangana rose by 18 percent 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.