The Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) collaborated to establish a Centre of Excellence (CoE) with PhD research scholars from JNU’s ‘School of International Studies.’ Conducting digital surveys to identify skill gaps and related economic and sectoral skill requirements will be part of the research.
To name a few initiatives, the CoE will research and publish data on mobility, use sectoral data to create economic and skill radar, and create a Happiness Index. The digital survey will also serve as an economic and skill radar for foreign companies in India and the Indian diaspora abroad.
The CoE’s survey data will be used for sector-specific skill gap analysis and demand forecasting to help the ecosystem of corporations, investors, academia, and, most importantly, job seekers. To disseminate and bridge information gaps, periodic newsletters will be supplemented with digital mediums such as AI-driven dashboards, portals, and so on.
Emerging employment challenges and opportunities
Aside from digital surveys, focused research-based studies will be conducted for data collection, publication, and analysis. CoE plans to collaborate closely with the Indian diaspora to better understand new and emerging employment challenges and opportunities.
Prof Pandit, JNU’s first female VC, remarked how this agreement was in sync with the government’s foreign policy of ‘development, democracy and diaspora’, wherein this exercise of collecting data will create a robust dashboard through the coordinated efforts and combined abilities of all partners’ abilities to deliver the best results. Hoping that “we would have a new way of looking at policy”, she said, that the “research will help not only the Government of India, but also the migrating diaspora, with well needed, authenticated data and counter the malpractices in migration”. Lastly, she expressed confidence in the university’s ethos of “delivering excellence with inclusion, equity with integrity, and tradition with modernity.”
The CoE’s programme management will be handled by a professional organisation. Within the broader scope of the programme, the organisation will also act as a liaison to work with various governmental agencies such as the NITI Aayog, Invest India, and the Confederation of Indian Industries, among others. The CoE’s day-to-day operations will be overseen by a team of relevant stakeholders.
