New Delhi, India - 10 Oct 2018: IBM (NYSE: IBM) and NITI Aayog today announced a first-of-its-kind internship program for the top performing under 18 students selected by ATAL Innovation Mission. Over 40 high school students will go through a two-week paid internship at the IBM Bangalore Campus. These students will be equipped with the skills for new collar careers in areas like artificial intelligence, Internet-of-Things, cybersecurity, cloud computing and blockchain. Apart from being trained in emerging technologies, students will also be coached in critical workplace skills.  

As part of the program, select teachers will also be trained by IBM volunteers and mentors to become innovation coaches. This initiative is part of IBM’s commitment to upskill next generation for future jobs in technology’s fastest-growing fields. The two-week program is designed so students can experience the corporate environment and gain exposure to new technologies by IBM experts. 

IBM is closely working with The Government of India to support ATAL Innovation Mission (AIM) aimed at instilling a culture of scientific innovation among children.  To scale the programme, top-performing students are selected for industry exposure to strengthen their technical skills and prepare them for future jobs. 

“If India aspires to become a knowledge-driven economy, it has to focus on up-skilling and re-skilling its workforce to move up the value chain. Our collaboration with NITI Aayog will help students better align with industry imperatives and make them future-proof. The industry, ecosystem and government partnership is the key towards building India’s talent base to compete in the global economy,” says Chaitanya Sreenivas, Vice President and HR Head, IBM India Pvt. Ltd.

Commenting on the collaboration, R Ramanan, Mission Director Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog said, "We are delighted to partner with IBM in our endeavor to inspire students and support the innovation ecosystem to work towards improving the learning environment and creating more local innovators from India. We believe IBM’s resources will enable the students with new-age capabilities and impart valuable problem solving, innovation and entrepreneurial skills to create the job creators of the future. "