GOING DIGITAL

The Indian Institute of Information Technology and Management Kerala is becoming a ‘digital university’. The digital world will dictate what it teaches and how.

- R. Radhika

At The Kerala University of Digital Sciences, Innovation and Technology, the digital world will dictate both what is taught and how.

The Indian Institute of Information Technology and Management Kerala, an autonomous institute under the state’s IT Department, is transforming into a “digital university” that will combine the conventional methods of teaching in academia with cutting-edge technology. Exposure to augmented reality, virtual reality and the relatively low-tech facility of global conferencing with scholars in other parts of the country and abroad are all in the pipeline for the new university.

“We are not converting the IIITM-K into a university, we are reimagining it,” said Saji Gopinath, director, IIITM-K.

The transformation was announced, and an ordinance passed by the state government, in January. The existing institute was already assisting with the government’s initiatives to develop IT industry and digital technology and its new avatar will continue to do so.

The proposed university will shift from Technopark to Technocity, both in Thiruvananthapuram.

Standing apart

The digital university will offer postgraduate and research programmes but will also focus heavily on developing a variety of short-term course targeting not just fresh learners but also those already part of the industry. “There are many who are employed in big IT firms who need to upgrade their skills as per the need of the industry,” said Gopinath. “It is called the re-learning market. The short-term certificate courses will be a boon in the age of rapid adoption of technology.” An extension centre planned for the university will manage these activities for the university.