IBM will pick 50 universities in India this year in a bid to ensure that they impart curriculum suited to the changing needs of the technology industry. The US tech major is also ramping up research & development in India to customise and localise its flagship cognitive technology platform Watson.

Ginni Rometty, Chairman, President and CEO of IBM, told BusinessLine: “We have been investing in education in India for over two decades and are looking at how to revamp that for the future. We have partnerships with a lot of universities. This year we are looking at picking 50 universities on new curriculum.”

IBM is also looking at how to adapt its Pathways to Technology (Ptech — a programme launched in the US) to India. “This was developed for US schools so we are looking at how we can bring it to India. There are six other countries adopting this approach. You tell a school this is what the industry is looking for, so teach that curriculum,” Rometty said.