NIELIT – Preparing digitally empowered youth for UP

Dr A K Dwivedi

National Institute of Electronics & Information Technology (NIELIT) is empowering people of Uttar Pradesh through a series of courses in IT and Electronics including Digital Literacy courses while effectively playing its Role in Skill India Mission of the Government, says Dr A K D Dwivedi, Executive Director, National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology (NIELIT),  in conversation with Elets News Network (ENN) .

How NIELIT is transforming Uttar Pradesh into a digitally empowered State and imparting digital literacy on the last mile of rural India?

National Institute of Electronics & Information Technology (NIELIT) is Human Resource (HR) & Capacity Building arm of Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY), Government of India, in the country. 40 Centres/ Extension Centres of NIELIT with a network of 700+ Accredited Centres and 8,000+ Facilitation Centres are providing services for this purpose.

In the state of Uttar Pradesh, NIELIT has a full-fledged Centre at Gorakhpur with an Extension Centre at Lucknow besides 300+ Accredited Centres and 3,200+ Facilitation Centers. Not only urban but rural population of Uttar Pradesh is also benefitted by utilising digital services and e-Governance initiatives of both Central and State governments with the involvement of NIELIT. NIELIT is empowering people of Uttar Pradesh through a series of courses in Information Technology and Electronics including Digital Literacy courses such as “Certificate Course on Computer Concepts (CCC)” which provides them required skill to use digital technology for their benefits.

Moreover, NIELIT Gorakhpur conducts online examination for about 65,000- 70,000 candidates for Digital Literacy Courses mainly CCC in the State every month. There are about 70-80 online exam centres across the State of Uttar Pradesh. Over 25 lakh people have been Trained / Certified in CCC in last three years. Recently NIELIT has trained State Government Secretariat Employees in e-Office which is an Online File System to improve transparency, tracking and efficiency. Till now, NIELIT has trained 25,000+ Government officials under various trainings related to e-Governance and Information Technology.

Not limited to this, NIELIT has already provided 2,000+ technical manpower to various departments in the State to empower government to successfully implement e-Governance across the State. NIELIT CCC course has been mandated by UP Government in all Group C jobs. Besides, CCC, ‘O’ Level and ‘A’/’B’ Level have been treated as one of the prerequisites in many Government jobs across the country. NIELIT has launched 70 different Apps for Android Smart Phones on various topics like CCC (Course on Computer Concepts) in 11 different languages and 75 other skill oriented courses.

Can you shed some more light on Skill Development and Capacity Building initiatives?

NIELIT has 80+ apps for Android Smart Phones on various topics like DOS, Windows, Word Processing, Spreadsheet, Presentation, Internet etc. in different Indian Languages to enable masses to enhance their skills in IECT Domain through Self Learning at their convenience. These apps are available on Google Play Store under Mobile Seva for Android users. NIELIT is effectively playing its role in Skill India Mission of the Government. To achieve its objective, NIELIT aligned 75 Skill Development Courses in Electronics (43) and Information Technology (32) areas under National Skill Qualification Framework (NSQF) and 19 more courses are in the pipeline.

The basket of NSQF aligned courses includes courses on VLSI Design & Technology, Reliability, Real Time Systems, Big Data, Cloud Computing, Cyber Forensic, Network Specialist, Electronic Product Testing, Solar-LED products, Robotics, Embedded System Design, Multimedia, Web Technologies, Programing Languages, Office Automation etc. NSQF is a competency- based framework that organises all qualifications, according to a series of levels of knowledge, skills and aptitude with recognition of prior learning and also promotes lifelong learning. Presently, over 100 countries have, or are in the process of developing National Qualification fameworks. NSQF resolves the issues associated with lack of uniformity in qualifications and/or equivalence of Degrees/ Diplomas/ Certificates, which impacts the employability and mobility of students. NSQF helps in attaining desired competencies and provide returns for additional skills to further upgrade competencies resulting in more employment and entrepreneurship opportunities.

NIELIT is keen to partner with the Technical Institutions of State Government so that students get up-to-date and industry- oriented curriculum. Would this ensure optimum employability of students?

It has been our endeavor to reduce Industry- Academia gap by conducting training programmes from Certificate Level to M.Tech Level. We have a unique M. Tech in Electronics Design Technology affiliated to APJ Abdul Kalam Technical University (AKTU), Lucknow and approved by AICTE with an objective to provide Industry Ready & Trained Professionals. The curriculum of this programme includes topics on Emerging Technologies and meeting Industry Requirements. Another M.Tech in VLSI Design dully approved by AICTE and affiliated with AKTU, Lucknow has been started in 2017 with similar objective to provide Industry Ready and Trained Professionals as per requirement of the Industry.

Besides to ensure optimum employability of students undergoing B.Tech/M. Tech Courses at AICTE (All India Council for Technical Education) approved Technical Institutions in the State as well as in the country, NIELIT and AICTE have agreed for Collaboration for Conducting Employability Enhancement Training Programme (EETP) whereby NIELIT will impart requisite training and award Credits for the training conducted on its own, to the registered students. Under this MoU, NIELIT is required to perform the role and functioning of providing Hands On Skill Training.

Programmes offered under this MoU includes courses on Internet of Things(IoT), VLSI, Embedded System Design, MATLAB, EDA Tools, ARDUINO, Solar–LED Lighting Products, Cloud Computing, Web Technologies, Android Application Development, Cyber Law & Information Security, Cyber Forensic, Multimedia and Animation, Programming Languages etc. Moreover, Virtual Training Environment (VTE) developed by NIELIT Gorakhpur is open to all technical institutions to avail facility and benefits of online learning with practicals on IT Security and Cyber Security. As of now, there are 21 modules offered under this environment.

With the proliferation of IT and Electronics services, the need for entrepreneurship development in the digital space has grown manifold. How significant can be NIELIT’s role?

Biggest advantage of Digital Technologies has been that it allows entrepreneurs to work from any place whether urban or rural locations and gives them opportunity to provide their product and services to the people all across globe. NIELIT is taking a proactive role in capacity building of entrepreneurs by providing them training not only in Digital Payments, Accounting, Computer Appreciation, Soft Skills but also in advance technologies such as Internet of Things (IOT), Robotics, Android Application Development, Embedded System Design, Electronic Product Design, VLSI, 3D Printing, MATLAB, EDA Tools, ARDUINO, Solar– LED Products, Web Technologies, Cyber Law & Information Security, Cyber Forensic, Multimedia and Animation, Programming Languages, Office Automation etc. NIELIT Gorakhpur is running NBA accredited M.Tech. Programme in Electronic Product Design and VLSI Design, both these programess are unique in its nature for Designing of Electronic Products. Apart from this various other specialised programmes related to product design are being offered to make candidates to perform well in the field of Product Design and R&D activities.

NIELIT Gorakhpur centre has been identified as the Nodal centre for IT security-related courses offering Virtual Training facilities. What are your further plans?

NIELIT Gorakhpur Centre is working as Nodal Centre for Research & Development projects for IT Security sponsored by Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Government of India. NIELIT Gorakhpur has developed Virtual Training Environment (VTE) which provides a web-based E-learning environment where users can learn the anatomy of hack attacks and then learn to design countermeasures against different type of attacks. There are 21 Modules that are being offered under VTE and using these platforms, anyone can do practical exercises related to Information Security through online mode.

NIELIT Gorakhpur is also acting as Nodal Centre for providing Training to Govt. Officials on Cyber and IT Security. NIELIT Gorakhpur is also the Nodal Centre for Certification Scheme in Information Security and under this three levels of Certification Scheme in Information Security has been started namely Certified System Security Analyst(CSSA), Certified System Security Professional( CSSP), CCFP/ CISSA/ CSSSD. Further, considering importance of Cyber Security, MeitY mandated NIELIT Gorakhpur for coordination of Government Official Training across the country.

Under this scheme 02 Days Basic Training in Information Security, 03 Days Advanced Training in Information Security and One Week Extensive Training in Information Security are being conducted for Government Officials is free of Cost. Till date more than 300 Government Officials has been trained in the state and over 4000 all across the country

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