IBM collaborates with Telangana Government to provide free skills training for the state’s students

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

Hyderabad, December 14, 2020: IBM (NYSE: IBM) and the Telangana State government today announced a collaboration to provide curated online courses for the state’s students that will enhance their technical and professional skills. IBM will work with Telangana Academy for Skill and Knowledge (TASK) to offer ‘Open P-TECH’, a free digital education platform focused on emerging technologies and professional development skills, for 30,000 students over a period of one year across engineering, degree, and polytechnic courses. Apart from providing access, IBM and its training partners will also train college teachers in using the platform, so that they can guide their students and help onboard them onto the platform and mentor students to learn these skills that will enhance their readiness for their future careers and the workplace.

Under this partnership, IBM will offer its entire catalogue of Open P-TECH 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.

“Telangana’s focus is on developing a good ecosystem for emerging technologies. We have established a Blockchain District and have also declared 2020 as the Year of AI.  Young minds who are trained in these technologies will find good job prospects in our state. I am happy that TASK and IBM have come together for the Open P-Tech initiative and urge students to make use of the opportunity” said, Sri Jayesh Ranjan, Principal Secretary, Department of ITE&C, Industries & Commerce.

Mr. Shrikant Sinha, the CEO of TASK said, “In today’s rapidly changing technological world, it is crucial for students to know the basics of Emerging Technologies. We are glad to collaborate with IBM for the Open P-TECH program. The technological strength of IBM gives us confidence that the 30,000 students enrolling for these courses will greatly benefit from them. In addition to these courses, I would also encourage the students to make use of the professional skills courses and mould themselves into well-rounded assets suitable for the global marketplace.”

Sandip Patel, Managing Director, IBM India/South Asia said, “Our collaboration with the Telangana government is a significant milestone, complementing the state’s education curriculum with professional, new-age, and white-collar skillsets for students. With Open P-TECH students learn to leverage their digital, emerging technology, and professional skills to improve their employability. IBM’s skilling initiatives are aligned to the country’s SkillIndia mission, and this collaboration between the Government, academia, and industry is another step towards providing our youth with access to digital education and professional skills to future-proof their career.”

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 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 that are generally not available in a college curriculum, but are high in demand and are valued in the job market.

TASK is a not-for-profit organization created by the Government of Telangana for bringing synergy among institutions of Government, Industry & Academia with an objective of offering quality human resources and services to the industry.

In India, previously, IBM has partnered with the National Skills Development Corporation, 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 lakhs 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