Bangalore: EMC, a provider of information infrastructure technology and solutions, has announced that its India Center of Excellence together with Junior Achievement (JA) India, a not-for-profit organization, has launched the first phase of the 'Bridge IT India Program' in partnership with four Bangalore colleges. The 'Bridge IT India Program' seeks to bridge the skills gap between engineering or technical graduates and the needs of IT employers in India. The program is a joint initiative between EMC and Junior Achievement India, and seeks to increase the employability of Indian engineering students by providing them with an operational understanding of what to expect at an IT organization, and how to contribute from the first day on the job. The program also saves employers from having to create lengthy and expensive orientation programs for new hires. The program involves volunteers from EMC India Center of Excellence engaging with engineering students aspiring for a career in the Indian IT industry. In the first phase of the program, agreements have been reached with four engineering or technical colleges that are striving to establish themselves as leading technology institutions in Bangalore. The four colleges are Nitte Meenakshi Institute of Technology, Yelahanka, Garden City College, KR Puram, Global Academy of Technology, Rajarajeshwari Nagar and SJB Institute of Technology, Kengeri. "Currently, only a fraction of the engineering and technical graduates in India are employable in the IT industry. Given the critical need for industry-ready technical graduates, we believe that the 'Bridge IT India Program' will make a real and measurable impact to positively influence the lives of students before they enter the workforce. We are initially reaching out to four colleges in Bangalore and will expand this exponentially in the coming months," said Sarv Saravanan, Vice President and Managing Director, EMC India Center of Excellence.