Cognizant Foundation has partnered with over 300 not-for-profit organisations and successfully implemented over 590 projects, which have impacted the lives of millions of underprivileged individuals across India. The Foundation’s Tech4All initiative — launched two years ago to skill women and persons with disabilities for careers in technology and technology-enabled services – is now in its second phase. “Our interventions are aimed at empowering beneficiaries to fulfil their dreams and aspirations,” says Rajesh Nambiar, chairman, Cognizant Foundation and CMD, Cognizant India. “By equipping them with the needed skills and resources, whether it is technical, life and trade-based skills, digital literacy or language proficiencies, these projects are opening the doors to better jobs, and creating a better future for them and their families,” he tells Sudhir Chowdhary. Excerpts:
How is Cognizant Foundation empowering the underserved sections of society with its education and skilling initiatives?
We believe businesses are one of the greatest platforms for change and have an enormous impact on efforts to create a more equitable world. Our efforts are founded on Cognizant’s decades-long tradition of commitment to social responsibility in India through the work of our Foundation and Cognizant Outreach, our employee-led volunteering programme.
This year, I am especially proud of the significant progress we have made in facilitating digital and inclusive learning in classrooms, supporting higher education and STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics) graduate and postgraduate studies through scholarships, providing techno-centric and vocational skilling for employability, equipping scholars with laptops for online studies alongside bringing digital literacy programmes to educators.
We are tackling the challenge of bridging the digital divide by providing learning opportunities in communities where we live and work, and investing more in bridging the skills gap than at any other time.
Can you share details of projects under the Tech4All initiative?
We launched Tech4All two years ago to skill women and persons with disabilities for careers in technology and technology-enabled services. In a short span, we have partnered with leading institutions and NGOs to make sure that a variety of skills training and vocational educational programmes are easily accessible in several states, including Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, National Capital Region, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and West Bengal, to name a few.
Fin-tech (TALLY), which was one of the several projects we launched in the first phase of Tech4All, offered basic and advanced tech-training to women with the aim of motivating them to opt for higher studies or take up jobs in BFSI and other sectors. Today, thanks to this programme, 88% of women trained in basic IT and 100% of women trained in advanced IT are either employed or pursuing higher education, including postgraduate courses.
Tech4All is now in its second phase, and we are augmenting efforts with advanced IT courses in areas such as artificial intelligence, data analytics, robotic process automation, alongside web designing, programming and management skills training. I feel proud that under one such project, Centres of Excellence for Women Empowerment will be established in 50 colleges across tier 2 and tier 3 cities of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Telangana to train students and teachers. We aim to facilitate job placements for at least 60% of the students.
How have these projects benefitted the beneficiaries across the country?
Our interventions are aimed at empowering beneficiaries to fulfil their dreams and aspirations. By equipping them with the needed skills and resources, whether it is technical, life and trade-based skills, digital literacy or language proficiencies, these projects are opening the doors to better jobs and creating a better future for them and their families.
To cite a few examples, one of the beneficiaries of the Fin-tech (TALLY) training is a 21-year commerce graduate who was raised by her single mother, an ayurvedic therapist. During the pandemic, in-person therapies came to an abrupt halt and her mother had to take on a second job as a house-help to make ends meet. The beneficiary wanted to help and based on a friend’s recommendation joined the programme. Today, she works as a cashier at a leading bank and is not only able to support her mother but is planning ahead for a brighter future.
Another beneficiary who was born with a locomotor disability, which impacts ability to walk, was disheartened when all her efforts to gain employment proved futile, despite having a graduate degree. She learned about one of the Tech4All programmes in her region and enrolled, a move she later shared proved to be a turning point in her life. The course significantly improved her communication and computer skills, and helped transform her confidence. After her training was complete, she was placed in a leading financial services company as an MIS executive and her dream of supporting her parents one day has been fulfilled.
How are you making digital learning accessible for the visually impaired?
Blimey is an award-winning cloud-based learning platform which has been developed in partnership with EnAble India. It makes digital learning in multiple local languages accessible for the visually impaired. This platform empowers beneficiaries to use a computer with little or no external help through screen readers and magnifiers. Moreover, users can choose from over 400 computer exercises – available in English and multiple Indian languages, master the concepts at their own pace and evaluate their progress using real-world scenarios and job simulations.
Till date, over 19,000 visually impaired users have been onboarded on Blimey across 24 states in India. The platform received the ‘Zero Project Award’ for innovation and is selected among the top ten solutions for replication in other countries. We aim to reach over 60,000 persons with visual impairment over the next three years.
I am proud of the significant progress Cognizant Foundation continues to make towards empowering underserved communities across the country with digital skilling and STEAM education to help create a better future. As we move forward, our commitment towards building a sustainable ecosystem at the intersection of inclusion, technology and collaboration remains unwavering.