Tech Mahindra partners with University of Nebraska Omaha to build IT skills
Technology consultancy Tech Mahindra has partnered with the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) College of Information Science and Technology (IS&T). As part of the memorandum of understanding, Tech Mahindra will collaborate with UNO on IT knowledge sharing, hiring, and industry-faculty collaboration.
Some of the key initiatives will include partnerships on student projects and internships, recruitment, industry visits, and seminars. India-based Tech Mahindra will leverage the resources of its 121,000-person footprint to help arm UNO students and faculty with the latest and most in-demand digital skills and capabilities, including data analytics, artificial intelligence, and cyber security.
The firm, which delivers technology consulting and outsourcing services across the globe, will share its expertise with students through regular speaker events, webinars, workshops, and hackathons, while collaborating with students and faculty on whitepapers and research projects.
“Our partnership with the University of Nebraska at Omaha presents an opportunity to bring together the best of both worlds in the region – UNO’s academic excellence and Tech Mahinda’s real-world technology expertise,” Sandeep Khajuria, senior vice president, Tech Mahindra, said. “We are excited to work with the students and faculty not only to help support their research projects, but also to train them in practical, cutting-edge digital skills in order to help create a future-ready technology workforce.”
Tech Mahindra entered the US market in 1993, and has been supporting clients in Omaha for the past two decades. The tech consultancy already has a development center in the region, and the academic partnership further strengthens its focus and investment in the region.
Many western economies are dealing with a perceived shortage of STEM talent, especially in the fields of AI and analytics and other emerging technologies. On the one hand, that’s an understandable outcome, considering that AI wasn’t viewed as a commercially viable technology until the last decade; the education system simply can’t adapt that quickly. But clearly, policy imperatives and industry endeavors are pushing the realignment of skilling objectives. A smaller pool of tech talent, after all, means not only the “stunting of innovation,” but also higher wages for the IT rank-and-file.
Not Tech Mahindra’s first rodeo
In June 2018, the consultancy partnered with the University of Texas to launch its first Makers Lab research and development center in the United States. The collaborative R&D center allows Tech Mahindra professionals and UT students to work on emerging technology – leveraging customer-centric innovations together.
The partnership includes the sponsoring of research projects by the consulting firm, while also offering internship opportunities for about two dozen students at the Makers Lab.
“The mission of the Makers Lab is to be a conduit between academia, research and businesses to provide solutions to its customers and provide a space for these partners to tinker with disruptive technology that we feel will make the enterprise of the future,” Nikhil Malhotra, head of Makers Lab at Tech Mahindra, said.
The Plano, Texas, R&D lab is one of seven total Makers Labs worldwide, spanning across India, the UK, and Germany. The labs have developed innovative technologies such as an AI-powered conversation platform and a retail-focused augmented reality application.
