An initiative for developing socially relevant projects by the student community: to DPE Academia, Microsoft

Abstract

The objective of the Academia is winning the hearts and minds of the next generation of IT professionals, developers and technology enthusiasts. In this direction the efforts of. DPE have been to address the needs of the student community. Any form of engagement with the students which gives them a chance to utilize their skills and work on technical areas that they are passionate about is a great boost towards this objective. One such concept is engaging students to work on projects of social relevance. Students in the broad academic spectrum in the computers/IT scene get together to brainstorm on new ideas, share their learnings, get expert opinions from IT professionals through seminars or technical sessions that are conducted via their colleges/university or on their own initiative. They enhance their understanding and put it into application via active participation in technical contests at university or college level. It would be a very good opportunity that resides in these high-enthusiasm individuals to utilize their learnings for developing technology with a social orientation in mind. This could be in the form of projects floated by the government or NGOs for rural or urban initiatives in sectors like health, agriculture, education etc. The report analyzes the possible ways in which Microsoft can act as the go-between between the students and the beneficiaries to aid such a model. The enablers of such a model are identified along with practical constraints like stringent quality requirements and need to engage technically sound individuals for mentorship. The benefits of such a model are multi-pronged. For one, society benefits since low-cost technology solutions now address many of their needs. Secondly, as the model scales up, students have the complete guidance in place to understand software development the way it happens in industry and their 'industry readiness and employability increases. Thirdly, Microsoft establishes mindshare and creates a social impact as a responsible business corporation. The recommended model is one where this is tested for proof of concept with the Academic Projects Programme and based on the success of the same, it can be scaled to an independent programme.