As you work from home due to COVID-19 lockdown, here comes an opportunity to upgrade your emerging tech skills including Artificial Intelligence (AI), thanks to a new initiative that was launched by IT industrys apex body Nasscom and Union IT Ministry. As a result, the Foundational Artificial Intelligence (AI) course from learning platform SkillUp Online will be available for free for everyone till May 15, said Nasscom. "The novel coronavirus has thrown up exceptional challenges across the world and industries alike. While we continue to fight these challenges as a nation, amidst lockdown and remote working scenarios, it is extremely important that we continue harnessing our skill sets on emerging technologies to become future ready," said Debjani Ghosh, President, Nasscom. This course is aligned to the industry's recommended Foundation AI curriculum (retail price Rs 6,800).

Shimla: Under its National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber-Physical Systems (NM-ICPS), the Department of Science and Technology (DST) has sanctioned Rs 7.25 crore to IIT Mandi to establish a Technology Innovation Hub (TIH) at the Institute. The focus of the TIH in IIT Mandi will be research on human-computer interaction (HCI), where projects will highlight the design and development of computer technology (interfaces) and the study of the interaction between users and computers. Being the youngest IIT in the country, IIT Mandi is the only institute to have a cell under HCI theme. " Human-Computer Interface as a theme will focus a step ahead than normal usage of systems by humans. The institute will create technology that will make computer interaction much easier and natural for the users", says Dr Varun Dutt, Principal Investigator, TIH, IIT Mandi.

The Indian technology industry is facing its biggest-ever HR challenge with the need to recruit and skill more than 2 million professionals, as growing demand for'exponential tech professionals' puts extreme pressure on it to remain globally competitive, according to a report. The increasing competition has not left organisations with much of an alternative. They have to either embrace the challenge or perish, according to the report titled'AI & Future Of Work: Redefining Future Of Enterprise' by BML Munjal University. Employability with technology continues to be a problem despite India having a large number of higher academic institutions, it added. "There is an expected supply of 7 million people for the Indian technology industry that consists of graduates, PGs (postgraduates), diploma holders and PhDs (but) overall employability is 18 per cent only," the report said.

Young students can shape up their career orientation only when they are not loaded with content-based curriculum, CBSE's Skill Education Director Biswajit Saha said on Tuesday. The flexibility in the system should be adopted by the school curriculum and the focus needs to be on activity-based skill formation of students, he said at an education summit organised by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India. As part of new-age skill education, CBSE has planned to offer Artificial Intelligence (AI) as an optional sixth subject for class 11 students from academic session 2109-20 onwards. Further, an AI-inspired module of 12 hours will be introduced for class 8 students by CBSE. Apart from artificial intelligence, subjects such as yoga, early childhood education will also be introduced as electives.

Young students can shape up their career orientation only when they are not loaded with content-based curriculum, CBSE's Skill Education Director Biswajit Saha said on Tuesday. The flexibility in the system should be adopted by the school curriculum and the focus needs to be on activity-based skill formation of students, he said at an education summit organised by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India. As part of new-age skill education, CBSE has planned to offer Artificial Intelligence (AI) as an optional sixth subject for class 11 students from academic session 2109-20 onwards. Further, an AI-inspired module of 12 hours will be introduced for class 8 students by CBSE. Apart from artificial intelligence, subjects such as yoga, early childhood education will also be introduced as electives.