The National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) has joined hands with HCLTech to bridge the skills gap that exists amongst Indian youth. This partnership is in alignment with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s mission to empower the Indian youth with AI and digital knowledge.
Ved Mani Tiwari, CEO, NSDC, and C Vijayakumar, CEO and MD, HCLTech, signed the agreement. This partnership follows the recent G20 Digital Economy Working Group (DEWG) meeting that achieved consensus on digital skilling, digital economy and digital public infrastructure.
The collaboration between NSDC and HCLTech aims to transform digital assessments in both tech and non-tech courses for both businesses and individuals. Together, the two entities will try to create new products and programmes to provide flexibility and scalability to talent.
The assessment market is projected to exceed $10 billion by 2027, with North America leading in revenue share at approximately 40 per cent in 2021. Europe’s role in global employability and employment rates contributes to the growth of the assessment services market. The APAC market is expected to experience the fastest revenue growth in the forecast period.
Under the agreement, NSDC and HCLTech will collaborate, utilising their technical and domain expertise in various areas such as assessment platforms, hiring tests (both technical and non-technical), smart labs (focused on coding and data science), learning programmes, faculty development, certification programmes, and advisory services for governments and institutions.
Tiwari praised the partnership, emphasising their commitment to building trust in job markets. Both organisations will create an assessment platform for students and professionals to certify in-demand skills, shifting from qualification-based to skill-based hiring. They will also offer online reskilling and upskilling courses to prepare for the ever-changing job market.
HCLTech and NSDC are teaming up to enhance digital skills and education solutions, including joint assessments, advisory services and tech solutions. This collaboration aims to create a future-ready talent ecosystem. HCLTech’s Career Shaper platforms and NSDC’s expertise will be instrumental in this effort.
Srimathi Shivashankar, corporate vice president and global head, EdTech business, HCLTech, is confident that this collaborationg with NSDC will help “to build a future-ready talent ecosystem using digital technology” and that “HCLTech’s Career Shaper platforms and NSDC’s talent-building experience will revolutionise technology-driven skilling.”
HCLTech’s educational technology business assists governments, enterprises and educational institutions in establishing technology and talent skill academies. NSDC, under the Ministry of Skill Development, promotes digital skills through technology integration, offering extensive digital content and industry-specific skill development programmes.
