AWS partners with NITI Aayog, AIM to upskill EdTech startups in India

Amazon Web Services (AWS) on Thursday announced a partnership with the Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) as a part of which they have announced new initiatives to strengthen and upskill companies building education technology (EdTech) solutions in India and empowering school students with cloud computing skills.

NITI Aayog and Amazon Internet Services Private Limited (AISPL) signed a statement of Intent (SoI), which states that AIM will leverage AWS Educate, Amazon’s global program that provides resources for students and educators to accelerate cloud-related learning in its program that will introduce the fundamentals of cloud computing such as cloud storage, virtual compute power, web hosting, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and virtual reality (VR), to students at more than 7,000 Atal Tinkering Labs (ATLs) in India.

In addition to that, AWS will also conduct Faculty Development Programs (FDPs) for the personnel in-charge at the ATLs, and provide resources and tools at each ATL to expedite student learning, and enable them to create and build solutions on the cloud.

Additionally, AIM will also adopt AWS EdStart, which is a virtual startup accelerator program that enables EdTech startups to develop innovative teaching and learning solutions on AWS. Amazon said that EdTech startup entrepreneurs and founders in more than 80 Atal Incubation Centers (AICs) and Atal Community Innovation Centers (ACICs) will be able to apply for AWS EdStart program benefits, which includes AWS Promotional Credits, mentorship, and technical training, which in turn will help them grow.

“The education and tools will establish a strong foundation in cloud computing for students of ATLs across India, while the support of AWS EdStart for startups from AICs and ACICs will accelerate their productization and potential commercialization,” Mission Director – Atal Innovation Mission, R. Ramanan said on the occasion.

“AWS is committed to bridging the digital skills gap in cloud computing, and empowering entrepreneurs to build innovative products and services on the cloud...It is a privilege to team up with Atal Innovation Mission to foster ideation, curiosity, and innovation among India’s students and youth,” said President, Public Sector – AISPL, AWS India and South Asia, Rahul Sharma.