The Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, on Thursday, announced its collaboration with IBM for the institute's online BSc programme and augmentation of select courses on the National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning (NPTEL) platform.

Chennai: Experts from IBM will co-offer a quantum computing course on the NPTEL platform and augment select courses such as data science and AI with technical inputs that will help provide students with a current industry perspective.

They will also conduct technical sessions for NPTEL partner colleges through their local chapters and for IIT-M's online BSc programme.

These sessions will be free of cost and made available on NPTEL and IIT Madras's online platforms.

The engagement will further strengthen IBM's and NPTEL's commitment to various initiatives to bring top-tier courses; new-collar employability skills to any student from a rural or non-urban area in India.

Prathap Haridoss, Dean (academic courses), IIT-M, said, "Online technical sessions from the IBM experts will provide industry insights to our students in the online BSc programme. Online mode of learning is making it very convenient for industry-academia partnerships. We are happy to partner with IBM and look forward to collaborating in more such areas."

According to him, the International Labour Organisation estimates India's skill deficit to reach 29 million by 2030. A recent IBM Institute for Business Value (IBV) study found that approximately 30 per cent of Gen-Z and millennial working professionals plan to enrol in a formal degree, certification in 2021.