India: EDII partners with 2 blockchain institutes for certified blockchain startup program

The Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (EDII) has entered into a partnership with the Digital University Kerala (DUK) and the Kerala Blockchain Academy (KBA) to offer blockchain technology training to citizens.

In their announcement, the parties state that the partnership will offer lectures to participants with a scope on the opportunities and challenges in the nascent sector. Apart from individuals, startups will be equipped with the prerequisite knowledge and equipment to navigate the ecosystem.

“EDII proposes to train 30 individuals per programme to enable them to successfully begin their startup journey in the blockchain technology sector. The trained entrepreneurs will have all technology-related information along with necessary entrepreneurial and management skills for setting up their startups in the blockchain domain,” said Dr. Sunil Shukla, EDII’s Director General.

The training has been scheduled to run for ten days, with blockchain training taking place over four days, while entrepreneurship and management training will run for six days. At the end of the program, participants will receive a certification that EDII says will give them a headstart in the digital assets industry.

DUK and KBA will handle the lessons bordering on the introduction and application of blockchain, while EDII will handle the section on entrepreneurship and management. KBA and DUK have been involved in similar partnerships in India, launching fully digitized programs for interested individuals.

Shukla confirms that over the next 12 months, the EDII will carry out five more training sessions to deepen India’s Web 3 talent pool. Training sessions have been scheduled to take place over the weekend to accommodate busy professionals, with the first batch scheduled to begin classes on November 19.

A dearth of talented Web 3 professionals

A recent study from the National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM) noted that a lack of talented professionals in the industry could plague India’s Web 3 ecosystem. The firm blamed the shrinking talent pool on a perceived negative government stance toward the industry, leading to the exit of talented professionals.

Deloitte has cited a deep talent pool as one of the factors that could put India at the forefront of digital asset innovation globally. The recognition of this factor has led to the creation of civil service organizations like DUK and KBA to promote the training of Web 3 professionals.

“Clarity on policy will unleash multiple initiatives, and India can serve as the world’s sandbox in several public services and governance use cases of blockchain,” read NASSCOM’s report.

Watch: The BSV Global Blockchain Convention panel, Blockchain in Middle East & South Asia