DU, IIT Kanpur join hands for skill development of students, faculty

University of Delhi and the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur have joined hands to enable several academic and research initiatives. IITK’s Foundation for Advanced Continuing Education and Training (IFACET) has signed an agreement with the university under the mandate of the Electronics and ICT Academies (EICTA) Consortium.

DU registrar Vikas Gupta shared that the partnership aims to improve the offered academic programmes and support the efforts of both the university and the consortium. As part of the initiative, the academy comprising 14 institutions will facilitate the skill enhancement of faculty and students of colleges affiliated with the university.

The centres are established at top institutions such as IITs, National Institutes of Technology (NITs), Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIITs), Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC), and National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology (NIELIT).

Under this collaboration, the central university will identify and nominate faculty members from departments and affiliated colleges and encourage them to take at least two online courses per year offered by the consortium. Additionally, a student training programme will also be offered wherein students from departments and affiliated colleges will be encouraged to enroll in at least two online courses offered by the 14-member consortium annually.

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EICTA is a government-supported initiative aimed at improving the employability of graduates and diploma holders across various disciplines. The academy offers a wide range of online courses for fresh graduates, working professionals, and faculty members, covering emerging and in-demand fields such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), cybersecurity, cloud computing, data science, programming, and sustainability.

Members of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, IFACET CEO, university deans and professors, and IIT Kanpur officials were present during the event. The agreement was signed by DU registrar Gupta and IIT Kanpur professor B V Phani who also serves as EICTA principal investigator.