Microsoft Corporation (India) Pvt. Ltd has launched 14 Microsoft Innovation Centres (MICs) in India. It has signed agreements with leading academic institutions across four States.
As part of the global programme, which currently has 75 MICs, Microsoft aims to launch a 100 such centres in India in the next two years.
These centres will impact over 5,00,000 students, certifying 1,00,000 students on Microsoft technologies. The programme will also drive innovation and help build a product-based software economy by supporting product development, and over 500 start-ups, says a company press release.
The centres will act as innovation hubs at select colleges and technology institutes, providing incubation and expert hands-on support on Microsoft technology innovation, research, and software solutions, aiming to create a pool of student technology experts across India.
Each centre will function as a hub for five other neighbouring colleges and will operate in a hub-spoke model driving employability, innovation, and entrepreneurship in the academic ecosystem around it.
The 14 cities that will host the first MICs opening this week will be Hyderabad, Vijayawada, Rajahmundry, Khammam, Bapatla, Guntur and Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh, Raipur in Chhattisgarh, Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh,and Tiruchi, Vellore, Coimbatore, Madurai and Salem in Tamil Nadu, says the release.