Corporate and Institutional Partnerships Making Education Worthwhile

Unemployment rate in India stood at 7.5 percent in April this year and while this percentage has started to decline, Abhirup Sarkar who is a retired professor of economics from the Indian statistical institute says that this percentage is still high for a poor country like ours. Apart from the large population size, and slowdown in the economy after Covid-19, the unfavorable employment scenario in India can be largely attributed to the lack of quality education. Pioneering author and leadership speaker, Professor M.S. Rao who is the Founder of MSR Leadership Consultants, India believes that one of the primary concerns in Indian education revolves around the prevalent gap between acquired knowledge and required knowledge. Educational institutions and policy makers across the country are trying to bridge the industry-academia gap and after the recent budget presentation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the growing importance of industry institute relationships said “A digital skill development ecosystem should be created in the country. According to the demand of the industry, skill development should be done; industry linkage should be better”.  As more companies are looking for ‘plug and play’ candidates, strong corporate and institutional partnerships can become a great platform to enhance the employability of students.  

Aside from that, industry institute collaborations can help students understand the work culture of industries, access better research opportunities and make informed career decisions. For institutes, strong industry connections can help them in improved resource generation, design industry-centric curriculums, and offer better placement opportunities for the students. All these can help companies to hire industry-ready candidates and work on various R&D projects at a reduced cost.   

With strong industry institute collaborations being the need of the hour, let’s analyze some of the most notable examples of the same.         

IISc, Bangalore and Wipro  

Indian Institute of Science or IISc is one of the premier higher education institutes of science in the country. This research-driven higher education provider joined hands with IT and consulting giant Wipro to conduct research on 5G, robotics and other autonomous systems. And in order to achieve their objectives, these two pioneering entities jointly set up the Wipro IISc Research and Innovation Network more commonly known as WIRIN. Aside from being a platform to derive positive research outcomes, IISc and Wipro utilized WIRIN as an enabler to drive innovations in technology, come up with unique product designs, and promote idea discovery. This collaboration has also helped research staff from IISc to work alongside engineers, researchers and architects from WIPRO on AI, ML, Vehicle-to-everything communication (V2X), and Human Computer Interaction (HCI).      

IIT Madras and Sterlite Technologies

This partnership happened with a clear objective of conducting research on 5G technology. While IIT Madras offers  its research expertise and subject knowledge on 5G, Sterlite Technologies provides  its domain expertise on the topic. Aside from that, the company also sponsored a Chair Professorship in 5G technology at IIT Madras as part of this collaboration and the chair occupant is responsible for accelerating the developments in research. And through this, IIT Madras and Sterlite Technologies  have been able to play an instrumental role in realizing the true potential of 5G and use this as a stepping stone in future research on cutting edge communication technologies.    

IIT Kanpur and Tech Mahindra

Consulting and digital transformation  company Tech Mahindra and IIT Kanpur have collaborated to conduct research and empower the students of the institute on the field of cyber security. As one of the fastest growing market segments, the cyber security industry is expected to be valued at USD 376.32 in 2029. During the same time, the industry is also projected to be a key employer across multiple industry verticals. And owing to this partnership with Tech Mahindra, students at IIT Kanpur are able to work on real world cyber security challenges, and acquire much needed real life industry exposure.        

Manipal Global and Axis Bank

In association with Axis Bank, Manipal Global established the Axis Bank-Manipal School of Data Analytics and by doing so, the institute has become India’s first online data science and analytics program provider with job assurance. The school offers an online three month degree program that includes a two week practical training segment. The said program will educate the students on the core techniques of data science and analytics, ML, and big data.  And through this online learning program, Axis Bank-Manipal School of Data Analytics targets new graduates, as well as, other individuals who have prior experience in fields related to technology or analytics.     

IIT Bombay and Michelin

Leading French Tyre manufacturer Michelin and IIT Bombay’s Monash Research Academy inked an MOU to work on mobility related innovations involving the use of sustainable materials and the growing developments in data-driven engineering. This tie-up aims to build a unique platform especially for Indian PhD students to experience the innovative and inspiring work culture at Michelin. And owing to this partnership, the students of the institute will have the opportunity to be a part multiple application centric translation research in the future as well.

From research collaborations to job centric programs, these industry-institute partnerships allow students, institutes, and business organizations to bridge the industry academia gap and improve experiential learning. This, in turn, will play an instrumental role in creating a skilled workforce who is keen on innovation. These strong partnerships can also be the path for India to close the gap with other developed nations of the world in terms of creating industry-ready professionals and by doing so, bringing down the unemployment rate even more.