New Delhi, February 2023.

The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) organised a seminar today on Building Capacities through skill training and New Generation of Entrepreneurs in Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Partner Nations towards usage and set up of digital IT platforms. At the seminar, India presented its best practices on digital transformation across different sectors in areas of health, education, skilling, IT and more, with a special focus on sectors that helped cater to the welfare challenges faced by the masses during the pandemic. 

The sessions were attended by eight member countries including Russia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Cambodia, Maldives, Nepal, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates (UAE). In addition, 50 delegates joined in a hybrid mode from SCO member states, observer states and dialogue partners. 

Discussions and deliberationswere held around strengthening the digital infrastructure for the digital transformation taking place at a rapid pace and creating linkages between industry and skill-based education across sectors like health, education, skilling, IT and more.

During the sessions, many case studies and best practices were shared including organizations like Urban Company, Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), Invest India, WorldSkills Russia and more, which emphasised on the need for institutions to be aligned and for the stakeholders to be more engaged to achieve digital integration across SCO partner nations. Further, the need to strengthen the capacities of aspiring entrepreneurs was emphasised upon along with empowering small businesses through skill-based capacity building with the usage of IT platforms,entrepreneurship initiatives and trends.

The seminar began with an inaugural session, followed by a plenary session on digital transformation and linkages between industry and skill-based education, followed by another plenary session on aggregation of IT platforms- collaboration between government and businesses to enhance global footprint and was concluded with a panel discussion on bolstering small business and enterprises through aggregation of IT portals.

Addressing the event through a video message, Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, Hon’ble Minister, Education and Skill Development & Entrepreneurshipstressed on the importance of creating multiple entry and exit points in the education system to provide vertical and horizontal mobility across several disciplines, general education, and skill education. Calling out the National Skills Qualification Framework (NSQF), a critical enabler of the multidisciplinary ecosystem, the minster drew attention on the key role it plays in creating a system for accumulating, transferring, and redeeming digital credits using IT platforms. He also highlighted the role of open-source digital tools in helping India realise its ambition in the education and skill sector and shed light on the convergence of security and economic development across nations, particularly the SCO countries. 

Aligned with Hon’ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s mantra of 'skilling, reskilling and upskilling and with recent announcement in the Budget 2023-24 on the Skill India Digital

platform, an elaborate presentation was made to explain how the unique platform is expanding  the digital skill ecosystem by enabling demand-based formal skilling and facilitating access to entrepreneurship schemes.

Speaking on the occasion, Atul Kumar Tiwari, Secretary, MSDE said, collaboration of SCO countries on skilling, reskilling and upskilling will be critical to unlock the economic value and will build a pathway to shared prosperity. The entire training space is being revolutionized by emerging technologies. The evolution of technology applied to learning delivery methods has also made the learning experience far more specific, personalized, and measurable than it has ever been before, opening a window of opportunities. I am certain that the seminar will not only provide a platform for SCO countries to collaborate and offer transformative public goods and services through IT platformsbut will also give new insights and pathways for embarking on a digital journey.

Lauding the initiative, Grigory Logninov, Deputy Secretary General SCO said, the pandemic has given a powerful impetus to accelerating new digital technologies in all spheres of human activity. Every year, the SCO member states have an increasing need for the availability of online learning, creation of platforms and search engines for teachers and students. With the seminar, the focus is on introducing new digital educational resources into the educational process, use of artificial intelligence, technologies to improve digital literacy.

The event was attended by key dignitaries and senior Indian officials including Shri. Atul Kumar Tiwari, Secretary, MSDE; KK Dwivedi, Joint Secretary, MSDE; Ms. Trishaljit Sethi, Additional Secretary/ Director General (Training), DGT, MSDE; Ved Mani Tiwari, CEO, NSDC and MD, NSDC International; Dr. Maneesh Mishra, Executive VP, NSDC; Anil Sahasrabudhe, chairman, National Educational Technology Forum and National Board of Accreditation; Kirti Seth, CEO, NASSCOM; Abhishek Singh, Additional Secretary and CEO, NeGD/DIC, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology; Alina Vladimirovna Doshkanova, Deputy General Director, Agency for the Development of Professional Skills (WorldSkills Russia); Anurag Jain, Secretary, Department for Promotion of Industry & Internal Trade, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Dr. Sam Sethserey, General Secretariat, DGC, Director General, IDRI of CADT among other esteemed delegates, a few representatives from the partner nations also virtually attended the seminar.

The SCO was established in 2001 and India began its association with it as an observer state in 2005 before becoming a member state in 2017. During the 1st meeting on 17th September 2021 in Dushanbe, the Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi spoke aboutIndia's experience of using digital technologies in its development programs and offered to share open-source solutions with other SCO members.