EMC partners with SiliconIndia

EMC announced that it has partnered with SiliconIndia for the BridgeIT
Employability Program, which seeks to bridge the skill gap between engineering,
technical graduates and the needs of IT employers in India. The BridgeIT
Employability Program was a joint-partnership started in 2008 between Junior
Achievement India and EMC solely aimed at bridging the gap between engineering
students and the workplace. The program prepares and sensitizes students for
informed engagement in a fast integrating economy. The program also encourages
them to develop an operating level understanding of the workplace and their role
in it, the program logically nudges students to introspect on the what, why,
how, where and what next of the workplace.

This partnership will help EMC to build a BridgeIT Employability Program
India 2.0 platform by leveraging SiliconIndia's extensive reach and technology
expertise for online program modules. Moreover, with SiliconIndia's online
network of over 3 million professionals and more than 50,000 new members being
added every week, EMC will be looking at increasing volunteer base who can
engage with students using their technology portal. It will also reach out to
college students through their AIPEC programs.

Speaking on the partnership, Sarv Saravanan, VP and MD, EMC India Center of
Excellence said, "BridgeIT is a critical part of EMC's vision to bridge the
skill gap that exists between the engineering and technical graduates and the
demands of the industry, and we are very happy to welcome SiliconIndia as our
technology partner. We will fully leverage the reach of SiliconIndia to
engineering colleges through online program modules using their portal and as
well as their technology expertise to reach out to students across India to
enlighten and broaden their perspective on the industry. Our mission is to
empower students to understand their aspirations and unlock their potential. An
unlocked and connected aspiration backed by well-developed thought framework
creates the condition for holistic learning. It also contributes, in a specific
manner, in redressing part of the employability gap."

The BridgeIT Employability Program curriculum will be available to students
across India through www.siliconindia.com/bridgeit. Industry leaders,
academicians and working professionals are encouraged to participate in this
movement to bring the workplace to the classroom. To make it easy on time
commitments of industry professionals the program portal has been enabled with
features such as videos, communities, question and answers, blogs, and
mentorship.

BridgeIT Employability Program has already engaged several volunteers from
EMC India Center of Excellence through live classroom sessions for engineering
students aspiring for a career in the Indian IT industry. This initiative has
currently impacted 1,400 students in nine Bengaluru colleges. The partnership
will also leverage EMC India Center of Excellence's leadership in engineering
and services excellence and effective information management and the
intellectual property that resides amongst its engineers for classroom delivery.

Venkat Matoory, Chief Executive, JA India said, "Redressing the employability
challenge in India requires operating the initiative at substantially higher
scale. The platform to deliver such scale would require connecting all key
stakeholders, across the ecosystem, who impact employability. This partnership
helps us build such a platform that also leverages social media, online tools
and portals keeping in tune with the pre-dominant youth preference. It helps us
to reach several potential participants, on demand, in their preferred space."

Harvi Sachar, Founder and CEO, SiliconIndia said, "We are really excited by
this partnership and SiliconIndia's expanding online platform will further
facilitate the scaling of the program by taking BridgeIT Employability Program
curriculum to over 3,500 colleges. There is definitely a big gap between the
industry and the graduates and we are keen to help bridge this gap. Our strength
in the online medium coupled with our reach to campuses across India and network
of 3 million working professionals will ensure that the BridgeIT Employability
Program reaches the target audience in an effective manner."