AWS teams up with AICTE to upskill students in India in ML, Cloud

American cloud computing major, Amazon Web Services (AWS), is working with the Ministry of Education in India to impart cloud computing and machine learning (ML) skills to higher education students in the country.

For this purpose, Amazon Internet Services Private Limited (AISPL), which undertakes the resale and marketing of AWS in India, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), a statutory body under the ministry.

“Thousands of AICTE-affiliated colleges in the country will extend this initiative to benefit students,” the company said in a statement.

“Digital skilling on future technologies at a national scale is a key priority for the Ministry of Education. Skilling our students in cloud computing and machine learning is especially crucial to not only ensure employability for our students, but also to build capacity in these critical skills that will define the industries of tomorrow,” said Dr. Buddha Chandrashekhar, Chief Coordinating Officer, AICTE.

He added that a partnership with AWS would support the Indian government’s vision for skilling to create an ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’.

As part of the collaboration, AWS will provide students’ access to AWS Educate (www.awseducate.com), a program that offers self-paced online cloud learning resources and labs, designed to help people learn, practice, and evaluate cloud skills. The program’s easy-to-navigate and adaptive user experience guides learners to targeted training content based on their knowledge, goals and interests. Learners can register on AWS Educate with just an email address.

In addition, the cloud major will support the goal of skilling students in cloud computing and ML through the AWS DeepRacer Student League, was launched today. The competition provides an exciting opportunity for students across India to learn and experiment with machine learning.

This is the second AWS DeepRacer initiative focused on students in India after the AWS DeepRacer Women’s League in 2021, and is being held with support from the Ministry of Education, AICTE, and Intel. The competition is open to students above 18 years who are currently enrolled in higher educational institutions in India.

Sunil PP, Lead - Education, Space, and Non-profits, Amazon Internet Services Private Limited, AWS India and South Asia, said that the pandemic has accelerated digital transformation plans of organisations by several years, driving an increased need for workers to advance skills training for cloud computing, cybersecurity, and machine learning.

A report by strategy and economics consulting firm AlphaBeta and commissioned by AWS, also noted that four of the top six most in-demand skills in India by 2025 will be cloud-related. The report found that the ability to use cloud-based tools will be the most in-demand skill required by employers in India by 2025, followed by technical support skills, cybersecurity skills, advanced digital marketing, artificial intelligence (AI) and ML, and cloud architecture design.

As per the report findings, these skills will continue to be in high demand in sectors such as healthcare, agriculture, fintech, media, and entertainment.