India is poised to become the second largest entrepreneurial ecosystem in the world, said SD Shibulal, co-founder of Infosys and Chairman of the ICT Academy of Kerala.

He was addressing the Annual Summit 2015 of the Academy, which is a social enterprise created in a public-private partnership mode for imparting ICT (information and communication technology) skills to the youth. The Academy is supported by the Centre and partnered by the State government as well as the ICT industry.

Different skill sets Shibulal said entrepreneurs need talent with different skill sets; and students are looking for entrepreneurial opportunities.

“If only the educational institutions could rise up to the occasion, it would make for a win-win situation for everybody. We are part of a global entrepreneurial ecosystem and will soon be second in size.”

He added that as the industry changes, so do skill sets. The core IT industry seeks change and customers look for innovation. So it is in interests of employees that they prepare themselves for innovation and move from coding to assembly, Shibulal said.

Start-up choice V Ganapathy, CEO of Axilor Ventures and also director of the Academy, said that working as a part of start-ups is becoming a legitimate career choice in India.

“In the coming years, the collective employment opportunities thrown up by startups would be more than those of regular establishments. Institutions should create openings for students with a rapid learning cycle and problem solving skills.”

Presenting the report for the last 18 months, Santhosh Kurup, CEO, said that the Academy is emerging as Kerala’s best employability skills training provider.

“We have 72 member-colleges and have trained over 8,000 engineering students as part of our placement assistance programme. Another 14,000 students have undergone short-term programmes,” he said.

Teacher training According to Kurup, at least 2,500 teachers have attended various faculty concept coaching programmes.

The Academy has also trained 1,800 arts and science students by partnering with government agencies/schemes such as the Kerala Academy for Skills Excellence and Additional Skill Acquisition Programme.

The ICT Academy Directors, Principals and faculty members from partner educational institutions, and CXOs from partner IT companies, participated in an interactive session that followed. A few member institutions also shared their experiences of working with the Academy.

The Academy awards for excelling individuals and member institutions were given away on the occasion.

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