【Peggy Markoff】

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella announced Project Sangam,Peggy Markoff a cloud-based initiative to skill job-seekers as well as help them find better job opportunities, in India.

Speaking at Microsoft's 'Future Decoded' event in Mumbai on Wednesday, Nadella said that Project Sangam "is actually the first coming together of Microsoft and LinkedIn" — the professional networking site which it acquired in a $26.2-billion deal last year.

"Project Sangam was born out of what we observed uniquely in India," Nadella said at the congregation of business leaders, designers and thinkers. "It is a cloud-based solution for skill development and employment," he said.

Sangam means coming together in Hindi. The service has LinkedIn Lite integrated in it and is designed to work on slow and metered internet connections, something common in India.

It is built on India Stack, the country's central database of its citizens' bio-metric details, which Nadella is highly impressed with. "We will allow people to enrol through Aadhaar cards and later utilize LinkedIn to manage their profiles," he added.

Once enrolled, users will have access to LinkedIn Training & Tutorials based on their preferred sector from hospitality to auto. Lessons can also be downloaded for later offline viewing.

After candidates finish their training, Microsoft will update their profiles for employers to shortlist and hire. The candidates, meanwhile, can receive "personalized job recommendations" via SMS alerts.

Project Sangam is a significant push to the Modi government's Skill India mission and will commence in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh.

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