Infosys launches ''Campus Connect''

Bangalore: Infosys Technologies has launched Campus Connect, an industry — academia partnership initiative. The program aims to deepen the industry-academia relationship, and create a strong foundation for the emerging knowledge economy in India. The nation-wide program focuses on aligning the needs of engineering colleges, the faculty and students with the needs of the industry, thus preparing "industry — ready" professionals. Infosys will invest about Rs 10 crore in this program.

N.R. Narayana Murthy, chairman of the board and chief mentor of Infosys Technologies Ltd said, "We recognise that bright engineering talent is the cornerstone for the future of the IT industry in India. We turn to the educators to help us get this pool of youngsters. Unless we develop a pool of highly skilled talent with global aspirations, India could lose its edge in this highly competitive game. This initiative aims to help institutions grow in quality of output with respect to technical and software skills. Campus Connect is a program designed to address the needs of educational institutes, so as to produce 'industry ready' recruits."

The first set of initiatives within the 'Campus Connect' umbrella is already underway. The Faculty Enablement Program, kick-started in Mysore and Pune in July 2004, shares Infosys' educational experiences and best practices with faculty from various engineering colleges. Approximately 40 faculty members from 19 institutes participated in the fortnight long session covering areas like computer hardware and system software, programming fundamentals and management systems, among others. A roll out of this will follow across all other Infosys Development Centres.

As a part of the Campus Connect initiative, Infosys has also hosted a Campus Connect portal to enable students and faculty to access technology related information and courseware that is relevant to the IT industry. Eight courses from the Infosys Foundation Program has already been hosted on the website. There are online tests and dummy project material to help students assess their current capability levels.

Reaffirming Infosys commitment to this initiative, Ravindra M P, vice president and head of education and research at Infosys and Program Champion of Campus Connect said, "Through an effective partnership with academia, we believe that we can help our students gain an edge over their global counterparts and significantly enhance the quality of IT education in the country. The long-term effect will be a better education system and a nation to be envied for its intellectual capability and competitiveness. We are committed to achieving the benefits this initiative has to offer."

Campus Connect today, has the commitment of approximately 30 institutions across the country. More institutions are expected to join the partnership in the coming days.

"This is the first time that we are participating in a well thought out and structured program like Campus Connect. This is an initiative that will be highly beneficial to the faculty, students as well as the Industry. We are extremely confident that with assistance from Infosys, this initiative will raise the bar of IT education in the country," said Prof D Jawahar, director, PES Institute of Technology, Bangalore.