Nadella pitches for poor, unveils tech for semi-skilled

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has made a strong case for using digital technologies to empower the common man and launched a slew of India-centric initiatives, including a platform to connect semi-skilled workers with employers. The technology giant also launched a 'lite' version of its video interaction platform Skype.

"If digital technology is only the purview of the large businesses and the start-ups, I think that is not sufficient for an economy to make progress," the India-born Nadella said speaking at a company event here.

"We can celebrate technology, but if it doesn't truly empower every Indian and every Indian organisation to achieve more...we would have achieved nothing," he said.

The global giant introduced the 'Sangam' platform, which is based on the world's largest professional networking site LinkedIn, also owned by the company, which will help the semi-skilled workers get job opportunities.

"We now need to extend this (LinkedIn) to middle skill and low-skill (workers), (provide) vocational training for job opportunities for everyone," he said, adding that sectors like hospitality can benefit from it.

The platform will also work on helping people to skill themselves for the jobs which are getting created, he said, adding that it is yet to go public and is at the "private preview" stage.

He also announced a new service on LinkedIn called 'Placements', which will help Indian college graduates land job opportunities in a "democratic" manner as per their skill sets, while pointing out that finding the right job is a "challenge" for graduates in India.

With bandwidth being a concern in India, the company also showcased 'lite' versions of LinkedIn as well as Skype, its video interaction service. LinkedIn has 39 million members in India and the new lite platform can work even at 2G speeds, he said.