NASSCOM FutureSkills Collaborates with Microsoft to launch AI Classroom Series, a Nation-Wide AI Skilling Initiative

By siliconindia  |  Thursday, 10 September 2020, 12:35:29 PM IST

NASSCOM FutureSkills Collaborates with Microsoft to launch AI Classroom Series, a Nation-Wide AI Skilling Initiative

NASSCOM FutureSkills and Microsoft have joined hands to launch a nation-wide Artificial Intelligence (AI) skilling initiative, as part of its ongoing efforts to promote skilling as a national priority. The partnership with NASSCOM FutureSkills is an extension of Microsoft’s global skilling initiative to help 25 million people worldwide acquire new digital skills, needed to thrive in a digital economy. The initiative aims to skill one million students in AI by 2021. The collaboration will provide Microsoft’s AI, machine learning and data science expertise to students through easy to consume modules including live demos, hands on workshops and assignments. All of the introductory sessions on AI will be available for undergraduate students at no cost. The sessions will cover the basics of data science, machine learning models on Azure, and understanding of cognitive services to build intelligent solutions.

“As economies start to recover from the pandemic, expanded access to digital skills will be one of the key drivers of an inclusive economic growth. 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. Microsoft is deeply invested in creating a digital skills ecosystem to equip India’s youth with AI-ready skills for evolving job-roles and our partnership with NASSCOM FutureSkills is a strong step in that direction,” stated Dr. Rohini Srivathsa, National Technology Officer, Microsoft India, speaking about the partnership.

“With disruptions and shifting customer preferences changing technology and skill sets in demand there is a rise in new job roles and occupations; skill sets are rapidly emerging as must haves for current and prospective tech employees. The joint initiative with Microsoft aims to not only build future AI skilled talent but also nurture job creation through constant reskilling and upskilling for the years to come. We should look at this as a golden opportunity for students to imbibe AI and enhance their current skills sets to be future-ready,” says Amit Aggarwal, VP & CEO, IT-ITeS Sector Skills Council, NASSCOM.

The partnership will also steer collaboration with various academic institutes and colleges to integrate new cloud and AI technologies into the curriculum, with a vision to make India the global hub for skilled talent in AI. Commencing from 21st September 2020, the AI Classroom Series will be paced in three modules. The online classes will include live demos, hands-on workshops and assignments through self-learning, virtual instructor-led training, and mentoring.

The teaching sessions will be conducted by various experts, including experts from Microsoft and NASSCOM. Students will have the option to choose from multiple time slots and plan their own learning pace. Registered students will also have access to content and developer tools from Microsoft and GitHub. A participation certificate from NASSCOM and Microsoft will be awarded to students at the end of the series.

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