Advancing its commitment to building a future-ready workforce, Microsoft announced the launch of AI Digital Labs in collaboration with 10 higher educational institutions in the country. The institutes covered under this program include BITS Pilani, BML Munjal University, ISB, Kalpataru Institute of Technology, KL University, Periyar University, Karunya University, SRM Institute of Science & Technology, SVKM [NMIMS] & Trident Academy of Technology. With the edge of the Intelligent Cloud Hub program, these institutions will emerge as learning centers of intelligent technologies and innovation hubs of path-breaking solutions.
AI and intelligent technologies are becoming all-pervasive today, driving change across businesses and communities. The evolution of AI and other emerging technologies is expected to create new jobs. Workers at all levels of organizations will need to be skilled for these jobs. These shifts in the talent landscape will require new ways of thinking about skills and training to ensure that the new workforce is prepared for the future and there is sufficient talent available for critical jobs. According to a recent Microsoft and IDC Asia/Pacific study Future Ready Business: Assessing Asia Pacific’s Growth Potential Through AI, lack of skills, resources and continuous learning programs emerged as one of the top challenges faced by Indian organizations in adopting AI to accelerate their businesses.
Anant Maheshwari, President, Microsoft India, said
As AI becomes mainstream, organizations will require talent with skillsets that are very different from what exist now. Educators and institutions are integral to the skilling revolution taking root in the country. With the right technology infrastructure, curriculum and training, we can empower today’s students to build the India of tomorrow.
Microsoft is helping to prepare students and the nation’s workforce to move effectively from the classroom to 21st century careers. This collaboration with colleges and universities will ramp up institutional setup along with educator capability, and provide relevant educational choices for students, helping them acquire the skills needed to fill the wide skills gap emerging across India and the global economy.
As part of the three-year program, Microsoft will support the selected institutions with best-in-class infrastructure, curriculum and content, access to cloud and AI services as well as developer support. The company will facilitate setting up of core AI infrastructure and IoT Hub as well as provide access to a wide range of AI developmental tools & Azure AI Services such as Microsoft Cognitive Services, Azure Machine Learning and Bot Services. Training programs for faculty will include workshops on cloud computing, data sciences, AI and IoT. Additionally, the faculty of the institutions will receive assistance in strategizing content and curricula for project-based and experiential learning.