IBM opens COEs in MP

IBM announced new and extended collaboration with three engineering and
technology colleges in Madhya Pradesh to provide a platform for development of
software skills among the students. The collaboration has brought the establish-ment
of a series of IBM Centers of Excellence (COE), creating a unique opport-unity
for students to learn new skill sets on IBM software products-DB2, WebSphere,
Lotus, Rational and Tivoli, as well as develop world-class business solutions.

The COEs were launched at Government College Jabalpur, Shri Vaishnav
Institute of Technology and Science (SVITS), Indore and Mahakal Institute of
Technology (MIT), Ujjain.

IBM will follow a two-pronged approach, providing the colleges with access to
technologies relevant to the market while ensuring that the right skills are
taught. The students can gain firsthand experience of the software products that
are installed at the campus. Through this initiative, IBM will work closely with
the colleges in the state of MP, leveraging the selected colleges as centers of
learning.

“Organizations are not looking for nuts-and-bolts programmers and
easy-to-document support workers,” said Anil Menon, VP-Channel, Marketing &
Ecosystem IBM India/South Asia, “The dynamic world of information technology
requires talents to have a strong technology background supported by sharp
business acumen and to be able to architect and implement IT plans to create
high business value. IBM is establishing Centers of Excellence to promote high
quality education by providing state-of-the-art and emerging technologies in
colleges/universities with the objective of nurturing highly skilled computer
professionals,” he added.

The colleges will provide infrastructure and high-end systems while IBM will
extend its entire range of software suite free of charge. PK Jhinge, Principal,
Government Engineering College, Jabalpur said, "The need of the hour is to
nurture an innovation-promoting culture among students. It is essential that the
youngsters' minds are seeded with the idea that 'Innovation takes the lead'. All
institutes have very unique ideas on how they think technology can be applied to
help solve different problems, as well as using the technology to encourage
skill development among its students and faculty. IBM centers of excellence will
give students the requisite exposure to gen-next technologies and go beyond the
stereotypical.”

Speaking on the occasion, Rajeev Vishwa Karma, Principal, SVITS, Indore said,
“The Centers of Excellence will give students the opportunity to put skills to
test and allow innovation to take center stage by providing exposure to leading
and emerging technologies. We are confident that the COEs will enable skill set
development among students for years to come and are proud to collaborate with
IBM to make innovative ideas possible. The association will give our students
the opportunity to partner with some of the best minds across the world.”