Microsoft on Wednesday announced a collaboration with the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) to skill more than 1 lakh underserved women in India over the next 10 months. This initiative is an extension of Microsoft’s partnership with NSDC to provide digital skills to over 1 lakh youth in the country.

The partnership is focused on enhancing women’s workforce participation by equipping underserved young women from rural communities with the skills required to thrive in a digital economy. As part of the collaboration, more than 70 hours of course content will be made available free of cost, covering topics such as digital literacy, enhancing employability, nano entrepreneurship and communication skills.

The program will curate a series of live training sessions and digital skilling drives to help create opportunities for young girls and women, particularly first time job seekers and those whose jobs may have been impacted by COVID-19, to join the future workforce. These live training sessions will be delivered online through the Microsoft Community Training (MCT) platform. The MCT platform will also allow the trainees to access rich content already available on MCT as well as provide a forum to engage with peers.

Commenting on the partnership with NSDC, Anant Maheshwari, President, Microsoft India said, “COVID-19 has accelerated India’s digital transformation and a workforce that is equipped with future-ready skills will be the key to unlocking the country’s next phase of growth. Providing equal opportunity and access to digital skills for underserved young women will be an important part of this journey, ensuring an inclusive economic recovery. Our partnership with NSDC is aimed at bridging the gender gap in access to digital skills, enabling everyone to succeed in a digital economy.”

Dr Manish Kumar, MD & CEO, NSDC, said, “NSDC is nurturing a conducive ecosystem in which women across formal and informal sectors get access to appropriate skill development opportunities. Mainstreaming of content, delivery of training and use of digital platforms are key to increasing participation of women. Our partnership with Microsoft will help in economic empowerment of women.”

The partnership with NSDC is an extension of Microsoft’s global skilling initiative to help 25 million people worldwide acquire new digital skills needed for the COVID-19 economy and part of Microsoft India’s ongoing commitment to support young women for a career in technology.