In an effort to provide an opportunity for individuals to upgrade their emerging tech skills, including artificial intelligence, NASSCOM has launched a free course on artificial intelligence, in collaboration with the Union IT Ministry.

With a vision to improve artificial intelligence readiness among all individuals in the country, NASSCOM FutureSkills — an online learning platform for the IT industry — jointly with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), launched this initiative where the NASSCOM is offering on-demand courseware, which would allow individuals to upgrade themselves till May 15th.

When asked, Debjani Ghosh, the president of NASSCOM, stated that the deadly coronavirus has thrown up unprecedented challenges across the world and industries alike. 

She said, “While we continue to fight these challenges as a nation, amid lockdown and remote working scenarios, it is imperative that we continue harnessing our skill sets on emerging technologies to become future-ready.”

NASSCOM FutureSkills has designed the artificial intelligence course by curating deep learning programmes for their partner ecosystem and is aligned to the industry’s recommended Foundation AI curriculum. This course has been made available for free on the industry body’s website for all users.

It is believed that through this joint initiative of NASSCOM and MeitY’s, individuals will be able to “unlock their skills during this lockdown” campaign. NASSCOM has urged and encouraged all stakeholders to use this opportunity of working from home to upskill themselves in the skills of the future. “We are confident that together we will be able to overcome this phase and emerge stronger post the crisis,” said Ghosh.

In a recent tweet NASSCOM confirmed the news stating — “Get free access to hand-picked #AI coursework to enhance your skill set! Start #UpSkilling now…”

One can start the course by visiting their website.

Also, the Foundational Artificial Intelligence course from SkillUp Online, which is aligned to the industry’s recommended Foundation AI curriculum and otherwise priced at Rs 6800, would be available free of cost till May 15th this year. Alongside, the Foundational Big Data Analytics course from Digital Vidya, which is aligned to the industry’s recommended Foundation BDA curriculum, has also been made available free for all individuals.

Agreeing to Ghosh, Ajay Prakash Sawhney, the secretary of MeitY stated, that this COVID -19 has thrown unique challenges for the world and industries alike, and we need to use this time to be productive and upgrade our skills, in order to remain industry-relevant and future-ready. 

“This campaign will urge IT professionals, students and everybody else interested in technology to enhance their understanding of emerging technologies,” said Sawhney.

Also, according to Sawhney, artificial intelligence is chosen as this is one of the most essential skills every professional would need. Besides, soon NASSCOM is also planning to provide learning modules on other emerging technologies like IoT and cybersecurity. They are also introducing live webinars for individuals to create more interactive learning on these subjects.