September 2006

NIIT, Asia’s largest IT trainer, today announced its entry into Management Education with the launch of a new institute—NIIT Imperia. The institute will set up Centres for Advanced Learning that will offer programmes from the Indian Institutes of Management (IIM) at Ahmedabad, Calcutta and Indore, to working executives, using synchronous learning technology.

Chairman of NIIT Rajendra S. Pawar, left, looks on, as Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ahmadabad Director Bakul Dholakia, center, and IIM Calcutta Director Shekhar Chaudhuri, right, hold brochures of NIIT Imperia, in New Delhi, India, Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2006. The NIIT Imperia institute will set up centers for advanced learning that will offer program from the Indian Institutes of Management (IIM) at Ahmadabad, Calcutta and Indore.

Synchronous Learning technology enables remote classrooms to be connected live with the faculty teaching at institutes. The usage of dedicated broadband with two-way audio-video, and special software, replicates face-to-face teaching.

NIIT Imperia will offer long and short-term programmes in general and functional management to working executives. While the content, teaching and certification will be from one of the IIMs, the technology, synchronous classrooms across the country and the management of the distributed education system will be provided by NIIT.

NIIT will also integrate its Learning Management and e-learning systems with this technology, and implement and manage the overall student experience.

NIIT Imperia was launched by NIIT Chairman Rajendra S. Pawar at a glittering function held in the capital today. While Professor Bakul Dholakia, Director, IIM Ahmedabad, inaugurated the Synchronous Classroom, Professor Shekhar Chaudhuri, Director, IIM Calcutta, released the Programmes of Study. Participating at the function through web-presence, IIM Indore Director, Professor S. P. Parashar inaugurated the studio facility at IIM Indore.

To begin with, NIIT Imperia will offer two programmes from each of the participating IIMs. These include three General Management programmes for professionals with a minimum experience of 3 years, 6 years or 10 years, from IIM Indore, Ahmedabad and Calcutta, respectively. A programme on Strategic Business Communication from IIM Ahmedabad; a programme on Applied Finance from IIM Calcutta and a programme on Sales and Marketing Management from IIM Indore, will also be offered.

NIIT Imperia has already set up six Centres of Advanced Learning at Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bangalore and Hyderabad, where these programmes will be available. These Centres are specially designed to combine the benefits of synchronous learning with group-work and collaboration among students within a Centre.

Commenting on the partnership with the IIMs, NIIT Chairman Rajendra S. Pawar said, ‘This is a unique example of public-private partnership, where India’s premier institutes in the formal education space have joined hands with Asia’s largest private-sector training company, to provide a solution that the country will benefit from.’

Speaking on the occasion, Professor Bakul Dholakia described how appropriate pedagogies could be designed around the synchronous learning technology, in order to meet and exceed the known benefits of face-to-face teaching.

Describing IIM Ahmedabad’s work in this regard, Professor Dholakia said, ‘With this initiative, we are taking the first step to address an urgent need, by offering a technology-based solution that is feasible to implement because it neither requires executives to leave their workplace while they upgrade their skills, nor calls for the creation of additional infrastructure in the premier institutes.’

Highlighting the demand for executive management education in India and IIM Calcutta’s experiences and plans in this area, Professor Shekhar Chaudhuri, said, ‘The growth trajectory of the country’s economy, and the talent shortage already being faced, makes it imperative to improve the capability and productivity of the country’s one-million working executives.’

Earlier, welcoming the gathering, Dr. Smarajit Dey, President–Strategic Initiatives, NIIT, described this initiative as a combination of NIIT’s pioneering leadership of 25 years in distributed non-formal education, with its strengths in technology-enabled education. Mr. Udai Singh, Executive Vice President, NIIT Imperia used synchronous learning technology to make a presentation on Imperia’s offerings.

NIIT

NIIT, an acknowledged leader in the IT and IT-assisted training space, offers learning and knowledge solutions in 30 countries. Leading IT magazine Dataquest has conferred on NIIT, the “Top Training Company Award 2005.”

Rated among India's Superbrands (2003-05), NIIT’s education offerings include: GNIIT, an industry-endorsed programme for students seeking careers in the IT and BPO segments; CATS, which offers training programmes on advanced technologies for IT professionals; Swift, a platform for equipping people with basic computer skills and NIIT Edgeineers, a skill upgradation programme for engineering graduates.

NIIT has recently acquired Element K, a leading provider of learning solutions in North America. Together, NIIT and Element K have emerged as the leading global providers of comprehensive learning solutions, with more than 3,000 employees and over US$ 250 million in revenue.

In the Corporate Solutions Business, NIIT’s offerings are bolstered by its SEI CMM Level 5 assessed learning services capability. The Corporate Solutions Business offers integrated learning solutions that include strategic consulting, learning design, content development, learning delivery, learning technology services and learning administration.

NIIT’s customers include many Fortune 500 companies, universities, technology companies, training corporations and publishing houses.