BANGALORE, INDIA: IBM, today announced that it has established Centers of Excellence in 10 colleges across Karnataka, aimed at creating a platform for the development of software skills among the students.

The IBM Centers of Excellence (CoE), would extend an opportunity for students to learn new skill sets on IBM software products – DB2, WebSphere, Lotus, Rational and Tivoli – as well as help them develop world-class business solutions, said a press release.
 
The CoEs were launched at MS Ramaiah Institute of Technology, Bangalore; PES Institute of Technology, Bangalore; CMR Institute of Technology, Bangalore; Babuji Institute of Technology, Davangere; Dayanand Sagar college of Engineering, Bangalore; B.V.B. College of engineering and technology, Hubli; Nitte Mahalinga Adyantaya Institute of Technology (NMAMIT), Nitte; Acharya Institute of Technology, Bangalore; PES School of Engineering, Bangalore; and National Institute of Engineering, Mysore.
 
“Today’s services-and-knowledge-based economy has altered the industry landscape, and it requires different skills and ways of learning. IBM CoEs are an extension of IBM’s commitment to nurture skills for the 21st century driven by the services economy,” said Himanshu Goyal, country manager - Academic Initiative, Developer Works and Globalization, IBM India/South Asia.

He added that the COEs would ensure that the students learn not only how to use the technology in real applications, but also how to continue learning once they graduate so that they stay current in a rapidly changing environment.

IBM will follow a two-pronged approach by providing the colleges with access to technologies relevant to the market and simultaneously ensuring right skills are taught. The students can gain first-hand experience of the software products that are installed at the campus. Through this initiative, the company would work closely with the colleges in the state of Karnataka, leveraging the selected colleges as centers of learning.
 
The colleges will provide infrastructure and high end systems while IBM will extend its entire range of software suite free of charge, said the release.
 
 Prof. Rachana Sharma, HOD, Dept. of MCA, CMR Institute of technology, Bangalore said, “This collaboration has provided immense training and certification on several tools and technologies that would help our students stand apart in the huge horde of competitors.”

She further said that IBM is equipping their faculty members with hands-on training on latest products, enabling them to include these features in their lectures and lab sessions.