ICT Academy (ICTACT), a not for profit Society, is an initiative of Government of India, Government of Tamil Nadu and Industry combined. This Academy aims at quality improvement of the ICT faculty in various higher educational, technical institutions to produce trainees who are readily employable in the ICT sector. The Academy was started in 2009. With training of teachers and students as the primary objective, ICT Academy has been working through a seven pillar program in the areas of Faculty Development, Student Skill Development, Entrepreneurship Development, Youth Empowerment, Industry-Institute Interaction, Digital Empowerment and Research & Publications. Intervention Key features of ICTACT are: All courses are endorsed by Industry Priced at Rs.1250 to Rs.1500, which is considered to be the lowest Course materials, assessment & certification are included Advanced and emerging technology courses included Promotion and marketing through relationship team Membership model strongly promoted across the state ICTACT at its commencement received the GOI grant on a project basis for the first three years to train 5000 higher education teachers on cutting edge ICT technologies. On completion of the project, ICTACT built several models for sustainability. ICT Academy has forged relationships with leading corporates across the globe including Microsoft, Intel, EMC, NL. It has also forged relationships with all State universities as nodal institutions and academic institutions across the state, Key takeaways The shortage of trainers is most often faced in imparting practical training. ICTACT provides quality improvement of the ICT faculty in various higher educational, technical institutions to produce trainees who are readily employable in the ICT sector. Tie-ups with this university for supply of such trainers may be explored. For more information, visit http://www.ictacademy.in/tnsdc/ Source : Skilling for Employability - Best Practices