First Digital India future SKILLS Summit inaugurated in Guwahati with leaders from Industry and academia
“FutureSKILLS is bringing a world of opportunities for young Indians to seize,
succeed and pave the way for creation of a talent pool that will power the
future of tech”: MoS Rajeev Chandrasekhar
“Assam will soon have a Rs. 25,000 Cr. Semiconductor packaging plant”: MoS Rajeev
Chandrasekhar
“Young Indians from Assam aspiring to enter the world of semiconductors won't
have to leave their state or travel to other cities anymore”: MoS Rajeev
Chandrasekhar
Union Minister
of State for Electronics and IT, Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, and
Jal Shakti, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, announced that Assam will soon have its
first-ever semiconductor packaging plant worth nearly Rs 25,000 Crore. He made
this announcement during his address at the first-ever Digital India future
SKILLS Summit, which was held today at the Birinchi Kumar Baruah Auditorium,
Gauhati University.
He said, “It
was because of the leadership of Hon’ble CM Hemanta Biswa Sarma, a
semiconductor packaging plant will be established in partnership with the Assam
Government and TATA Group. We will soon obtain all approvals and submit it to
the cabinet for final approval. Young Indians aspiring to enter the world of
semiconductors won't have to leave their state or travel to other cities
anymore.”
The Minister also emphasized how India's economy has
undergone significant progress over the past decade, from being ‘fragile 5’ to
now ranked as world's ‘top 5’ economy. This significant milestone under the
leadership of Hon’ble PM Narendra Modi has unleashed many opportunities for
young Indians, particularly in emerging technology sectors where India is on
the same starting line as the rest of the world.
“Through futureSKILLS, we want to convey to our young
Indians that in the coming years, due to the policies of our Hon’ble PM Modi
ji, numerous opportunities will open up for them. Students need to empower and
equip themselves with skills in areas such as AI, cybersecurity, and
semiconductors. Today, the world's biggest companies in these fields, including
NVIDIA, Intel, AMD, HCL, Wipro, and IBM, are present here today in Guwahati.
They all share a singular message — there are tremendous job opportunities, but
building skills for it is very important. The objective of this summit is to
motivate young Indians to fully immerse themselves in the world of skills,” the
Minister added.
The Minister affirmed that with initiatives like
futureSKILLS, India is poised to lead the way in shaping the future of
technology. This endeavor will cultivate a globally competitive talent pool
accessible not only to Indian companies but also to organizations worldwide,
setting a new standard in the global tech landscape.
He said, "Our Hon'ble PM has created a three-pronged
strategy to shape the future of tech -- futureDESIGN for design innovation,
futureLABS for innovation around systems, and futureSKILLS for preparing our
Young Indians from Guwahati to Mumbai to Bengaluru to J&K with capabilities
in emerging sectors. Today, Indians are very important players and participants
in shaping the future of emerging technologies like AI, semiconductors, and
cybersecurity."
The Digital India futureSKILLS Summit hosted by the
Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) through the National
Institute of Electronics and IT (NIELIT) witnessed the convergence of esteemed
dignitaries, industry leaders, academia, policymakers and technology enthusiasts
to deliberate on strategies for Catalyzing
future-ready talent for India & the World.
Minister Chandrasekhar also highlighted that FutureSKILLS
is about bringing to your attention, the world of opportunities in areas that
require many skilled people. These futureSKILLS are needed in emerging areas
like semiconductors, Al, Electronics, HPC and cybersecurity among others. These
are technologies where India is on the same starting line as the rest of the
world.
Minister of Education of Assam, Dr Ranoj Pegu said that
the Government of Assam has taken many steps for digital skilling of youths in
Assam.
He said that,
“Projects worth Rs. 1800 crore have been implemented by the Assam Govt. to
skill our youths on industry 4.0 across 77 polytechnics and ITIs. Recently an
agreement has been signed with TATA and also allotted 150-acre land to establish
semiconductor industry near Guwahati.”
Among the key speakers of the summit were Kuntal
Sensarma, Economic Adviser, MeitY, Jaya Jagadish, Head, AMD India, Ruchir
Dixit, Vice President & Country Manager, Siemens EDA, Lingraju Sawkar, President,
Kyndryl India, Ganesh Gopalan, CEO and Co-Founder, Gnani.AI and Prof Subhasis
Chaudhuri, Director, IIT Bombay.
During his address, Ganesh Gopalan, CEO and Co-Founder, Gnani.AI said
that India is the best place to start an AI company today.
He said, “Globally around 100 million jobs will be
created in AI, this is a huge opportunity for us Indians to grab a lot of these
jobs. The market in areas like cybersecurity will explode, which will create at
least a few more million jobs for us to grab. India is stepping in the
right direction and Futureskills Summit is a fantastic initiative. It is
fantastic to see the kind of progress that has been made. Today, there is no
better time to start a company in AI today and there is no better place than
India to do that.”
Expressing similar sentiments about India’s opportunities
and the role of Young Indians, Ruchir Dixit, Vice President & Country
Manager, Siemens EDA said, “It is estimated that in the next five years, we
will have a shortage of 4 lakh skilled workers in the electronics industry and
this is our opportunity. This is the most exciting time for me because I am
seeing for the first time – opportunity being married to a platform.”
Emphasizing on the need of skilling, Kuntal Sensarma,
Joint Secretary & Economic Adviser, MeitY said that Skills are the passport
to prosperity, MeitY is focusing on Skilling on various aspects of Emerging
Technologies.
He
underlined that the summit will help to formulate a roadmap to transform India
into a global Talent hub and capitalize on the opportunities thrown up by
Emerging Technologies.
Focusing on the importance of Semiconductor industry, Jaya
Jagadish, Head, AMD India mentioned that Semiconductor Industry often referred
to as the backbone of modern technology. It has played an instrumental role in
defining the world we live in today. From smartphone to smart cities, from
Artificial Intelligence to Virtual Reality, Semiconductor are the invisible
force driving innovation across every sector.
Quoting former President of India, Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, Lingraju
Sawkar, President, Kyndryl said that dream is not what wakes up you in the
night, but it what keep you away from sleeping. This summit gave us the
opportunity to dream big, really move from being to job generator to job
providers for every youth.
Prof Subhasis Chaudhuri, Director, IIT Bombay said that
Govt. has started many skilling programs such as PMKVY, SANKALP, UDAAN etc. and
similarly NIELIT is also leveraging New Education Policy 2020, which allows
more such options for the talents of today to leverage that for their career
upgradation.
Dr Y Jayanta Singh, Executive Director, NIELIT Guwahati
delivered vote of thanks at the conclusion of the Digital India #futureSKILLS
Summit in Guwahati. In his address, he expressed gratitude to all the
dignitaries, industry leaders, policymakers, academia and technology
enthusiasts who contributed to the success of the event.
The presence of these prominent industry leaders in
Guwahati underscores the significance of empowering the youth of Assam and the
entire region with digital skills.
The Exhibitions showcasing Future Skills has also been
inaugurated by the Hon’ble Union Minister of State Shri Rajeev Chandrasekhar
and he interacted with numerous representatives of Start-ups and academia. The
summit also organised an exhibition that showcased over 30 innovative future
skills technologies & solutions.
The summit facilitated more than 30 strategic
collaborations between NIELIT and leading industry players and academia such as
Intel, HCL, Microsoft, Kyndryl, IIM Raipur, IIITM Gwalior and Wipro, etc. These
collaborations aim to bridge the gap between academia and industry, ensuring
that educational programs are tailored to meet industry standards and demands.
In addition to this, four engaging panel discussions were
held on key themes such as Semicon India, IndiaAI, Cyber Security &
Emerging Technologies and Digital India's Talent for the Global Workforce.