IBM’s Open P-TECH platform to provide Indian youth access to digital learning in emerging technologies and workplace skills

New Delhi / Bangalore, August 21, 2020: IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced its collaboration with National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) to offer ‘Open P-TECH’, a free digital education platform, focused on emerging technologies and professional development skills. As a part of the collaboration, IBM will curate online courses from Open P-TECH platform and offer it to users via NSDC’s eSkill India portal  to empower Indian youth on various skills to succeed in future careers.

Under the partnership, IBM  will catalogue its 30+ Open P-TECH courses on eSkill India portal, with 60+ hours of learning, as a knowledge partner. IBM will provide online courses in emerging technologies like Cyber Security, Blockchain, AI and Machine Learning, Cloud, Internet of Things, along with professional skills, like Design Thinking to learners between 18 to 22 years for free.

Dr. Manish Kumar, MD and CEO, National Skill Development Corporation said, "The power of technology should be leveraged for reaching out to the youth with scale and quality. Online trainings through digital platforms like Open P-TECH and eSkill India need to be accelerated to overcome geographical and socio-economic barriers. Digital learning will enable higher participation of women in the labour workforce as the scope for employability will increase.  Overall, digital learning will boost prospects of employment and livelihood for the youth."

eSkill India is  a digital skilling initiative from NSDC that aggregates digital learning resources through various Indian and global knowledge partnerships, to enable access to best-in-class learning resources for the India youth. Currently, over 16 lakh minutes of digital courses and content is available across various sectors in multiple languages, providing learners with the technology and skills needed to prosper in a rapidly transforming digital world. 

Sandip Patel, Managing Director, IBM India/South Asia said, “As the pandemic is driving the digital transition to happen more quickly, there must be new forms of learning if we want to empower young learners with technical and market-related skills. Our collaboration with NSDC is a significant milestone to equip the next generation with digital skills. Open P-TECH will make foundational learning in emerging technology and professional skills for the youth more accessible. Aligned to the country’s SkillIndia mission, we are taking another step in the evolution of our digital education approach to help the next generation of professionals have the exciting future they deserve.”

IBM’s Open P-TECH, a free digital education platform, focused on emerging technologies and professional development skills, was launched in India in March 2020. The platform equips learners and educators with foundational technology competencies, along with workplace learning skills. Under the partnership, Open P-TECH platform will offer courses to  develop soft skills, interpersonal skills, problem solving — a set of 11 key skills which are generally not available in a college curriculum, but are  high in demand and are valued in the job market. Currently available in English, the platform will soon be available in various Indian languages - starting with Hindi, followed by 10 Indian languages including Kannada, Telegu, Tamil, Punjabi, Gujarati, Sindhi, Urdu, Bengali.

The partnership will offer both learners and educators with direct access to digital learning resources in various trending specializations, thus providing a great way to jump-start career exploration including earning industry supported digital badges. Students can share these digital badges on their online resumes.

In India, previously, IBM has partnered with Directorate General of Training at the Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, Central Board of Secondary Education, Niti Aayog and State Department of Education, and State Skills Missions to impact more than 4 lakh learners and students across 22+ states through its education and skilling initiatives.
Open P-TECH is now available to students and teachers worldwide. Register here: https://open.ptech.org

About National Skill Development Corporation
National Skill Development Corporation, working under the aegis of Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, is a unique public-private-partnership which aims to catalyze creation of quality vocational training ecosystem in India. Since inception in 2010, NSDC has trained more than 2.5 crore people through its partnership with 600+ training partners, 11,000+ training centres spread over 600+ districts across the country. NSDC has established 37 Sector Skill Councils and is implementing Government’s flagship skill development schemes such as Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY), Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendra (PMKK), National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS), among others. For more, visit www.nsdcindia.org

About eSkill India
NSDC’s eSkill India portal provides learners a platform to explore online skill-courses anytime, anywhere. The portal leverages technology to enable skill seekers accelerate their learning through methods like virtual learning and remote classroom. eSkill India offers 550+ e-learning courses in multiple Indian languages through leading knowledge providers. For more, visit eskillindia@nsdcindia.org

About IBM India
For more information on IBM India, please visit http://www.ibm.com/in/en.
For the latest annual corporate responsibility report describing IBM's leadership and accountability in how it collaborates with communities, clients, governments, shareholders, employees, and not-for-profits on environmental, social service, and governance issues, please visit here. Follow IBM's corporate social responsibility initiatives by following @IBMorg or visiting www.IBM.org.