Intel announced Thursday that it has tied up with training company NIIT to introduce specialised training programs for India's software developers around Intel architectures and platforms.
The training program will initially focus on multi-core processing, with labs across 10 NIIT centers in Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad and Pune. The long-term plan is to extend the program to at least 50,000 students over the next three years, said Narendra Bhandari, regional manager for Asia Pacific of Intel's Software and Solutions Group.
The training program will focus on what software engineers should know to take advantage of current hardware innovation, Bhandari told IDG News Service on Thursday. Intel Software College, which was set up in India last year, will provide the program's course material, Bhandari added.
Intel Software College has been working with software companies in India, and training some of their engineers, Bhandari said. By working with a large training organisation such as Delhi-based NIIT, Intel will be able to broaden the program's reach, he added.
Besides providing software tools for the program, Intel will also market the program together with NIIT, Bhandari said.
Multi-core processing is a major transition for the IT industry right now, and software engineers need to know how to write or modify applications to the new hardware architecture, Bhandari said.
NIIT will set up training centers, where participants will be taught by instructors trained on Intel's tools and technologies, according to the company. On completion of training, the participants will receive the course materials, evaluation licenses for the products used in class and resources for ongoing learning. Participants who enroll in these courses will also be able to register online on the Intel Software College Web site and avail themselves to online programs to supplement classroom training.
NIIT plans in the future to offer these courses in China and South-East Asia, where the company has training operations.
Intel Capital, the strategic investment arm of Intel in Santa Clara, California, acquired a minority stake in NIIT earlier this year. The two companies signed a memorandum of understanding last year to promote computer-aided education in Indian schools.