Google teams up with Udacity to offer Android developer nanodegrees in India

For Udacity, India seemed to be the logical next step after United States to expand its programme considering the country has the second largest number of software developers worldwide. As a part of the program, 1,000 scholarships will be offered to deserving students by Google and Tata Trusts. The cost is Rs 9,800 ($135), with 50 percent being refunded on graduation.

Google has partnered with Udacity and Tata Trusts to bring the Android Developer Nanodegree program to India.

In a move to give fillip to the android application developer ecosystem in India, technology major Google has introduced a new program called “Android Nanodegrees”.

To apply for the scholarship, students have to go to the site udacity.com/india, read the terms and conditions, and take an assessment test. Udacity has teamed up with Accenture to assess the test. Google has also offered to host an Android Development Career Summit at Bengaluru in the spring of 2016 for 30 of the top students in the programme.

While, with the launch of this inventive educational program, the company desires to bridge the gap by providing India’s developer community. “We want to equip them with the knowledge and skill sets to do so”, said Rajan Anandan, vice president and managing director, Google South East Asia and India.

The Udacity Android Nanodegree program is open for enrollment today.

“Only two per cent of apps built in India feature in the top 1,000 apps globally and our goal is to raise this to 10 per cent in next three years”, added Mr. Anandan. “If giants like Google are ready to hire a nanodegree holder, other companies are sure to follow suit”, the 21-year-old said. Both offer Android powered devices. Udacity CEO, Sebastian Thrun has already said that the main focus of the program is to help people get their dream jobs. Thrun told TechCrunch. “We’re very optimistic we can”.

“With over 381 million Internet-enabled mobile phone subscriptions in India, there is a growing demand for the Internet as a multi-purpose solution provider”, Tata Trusts Development Manager Ganesh Neelam said.