Infosys to open innovation hub in Rhode Island

Infosys on Monday announced a multi-year partnership with the State of Rhode Island to establish an Infosys design and innovation hub. Infosys will also hire 500 American workers in Rhode Island over the next five years.

''We are excited to welcome Infosys to Rhode Island,'' said Rhode Island governor Gina Raimondo. ''Because of our investments in higher education and job training at CCRI and other institutions across the state, Rhode Islanders are well-equipped and well-prepared to compete for these good paying jobs. Infosys joins a growing local market of innovative, advanced industry companies that have chosen to plant a flag in Rhode Island.''

''Today's partnership with Rhode Island marks another important step forward for Infosys in the United States. The state's educational institutions, design-rich environment, and economic development tools, positioned Rhode Island competitively for this type of specialist partnership,'' said Ravi Kumar, president, Infosys. ''This will enhance our ability to provide design-driven, digital technologies across the country and enable breakthrough innovations at the intersection of industry and design for our clients.''

Earlier this year, Infosys committed to hiring 10,000 American workers over the next two years. The company has been making rapid progress and is on target to hire towards that commitment, and is investing in technology and innovation hubs in Indianapolis, Indiana and Raleigh, North Carolina.

Infosys said the latest announcement is part of its campaign to boost innovation in the United States. These new hires in Rhode Island will include experienced designers, design architects, specialists in information design and technical experts.

This partnership also offers a unique platform to nurture specialist design talent at scale to serve the growing demand for design-driven digital skills across industries, it added.

Infosys said the Rhode Island Design and Innovation Hub will help close the gap for design and human-centric skills in technology fields and offer early-career designers and design graduates unique training opportunities with in-demand digital skills including exposure to systems, platforms, strategy and organization domains to make them more employable.

''Built on a model of interdisciplinary collaboration, the Hub will facilitate interactions between early-career designers and working professionals and technical experts in such fields as architecture, engineering, data science and business consulting,'' the release said. ''Infosys' clients and industry partners will likewise benefit from increased access to top-tier designers and subject matter experts,' it added.

Infosys' training and upskilling programme in the US is funded by its charitable foundation, Infosys Foundation USA. More than 4.7 million students, over 13,000 teachers, and 21,000 schools across America have benefited from computer science training and equipment funded through the foundation. The Foundation has provided multiple grants to teachers and schools across Rhode Island - to date, grants made by the foundation have reached 930 students, 20 teachers and 18 schools across the state.