IBM to set up 75 centres of excellence in 60 cities

NEW DELHI: Technology giant IBM today said it will set up 75 new Centres of Excellence (CoE) at engineering colleges across 60 cities in India, which will train students on various softwares.

The locations for the 75 new CoEs will be selected from among the top 300 engineering colleges in the country and will span 20 states, IBM said in a statement.

Last year, IBM had set up over 75 such CoEs across Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan, among others, it added.

The IBM CoEs are aimed at creating a platform for the development of software skills among students and gives students the opportunity to develop business solutions.

In addition to setting up CoEs, IBM also plans to bring its Global Entrepreneurship Initiative (GEI) to some of these colleges.

Through the GEI programme, IBM will select a few projects based on their feasibility and provide guidance to take them to the market and build a sustainable business for the entrepreneurs, it said.

"Apart from providing free training, certification and software to these colleges, IBM plans to convert the CoEs into incubation centres to bolster software skills and ensure industry-ready professionals," Himanshu Goyal, Country Manager - Academic Initiative, Developer Works and Globalisation, IBM India/South Asia, said.