“Start small, Think big”. Some advice for innovators
On December 1–4 Winter Island 2019 took place in Sochi. Winter Island is the intensive course for Russian startups, educational institutions, government authorities and big businesses, interested in development of digital economy. Uday Nanda, Chief Learning Officer at UpSkilledd, India discussed with participants of the Island the growth story of the country and gave some advice for innovators.
Interviewer: What were you discussing with the participants of the Winter Island?
Uday Nanda: The fast changing Digital Economy — which includes IT, business process management (BPM), electronics, e-commerce, digital payments, tech startups, etc. — has emerged as a global driver for socio-economic growth.
India’s growth story is no different — and today global CEOs of tech giants like Google, Microsoft, Adobe, MasterCard and Nokia — are all products of Indian education and training.
However, not all people are able to access these emerging opportunities due to lack of opportunity to upgrade their competencies or skills. This ‘skill gap’ is causing a massive loss of productivity, mass unemployment and growing inequality.
Int: Can you mention the main points that were discussed during the session?
UN: Well the talk was spread out across a range of topics — from digital economy, skills and edTech — to cricket, Bollywood and curry. But my hope is that the following 3 takeaways stuck with most participants.
Firstly, the Digital Economy is rapidly changing the ‘way people work’ and ‘skills in-demand’. Across all industries and functions. The rate of change is faster than ever before.
Secondly, it’s critical to know the exact skills, knowledge and mindset — and the measurement mechanisms to quantify them. Because what can’t be measured can’t be managed. And what can’t be managed can’t be improved.
Thirdly, for an upskilling strategy to work at scale today requires rethinking starting at a systems level. People are already learning from experience and from each other, every hour of every day. The question then becomes, how do we help them learn better — from providing the right environment, enabling flexibility to ensuring relevance.
Int: I guess our readers are not familiar with Upskilledd. Can you say a few words about your company?
UN: Founded in 2017, UpSkilledd offers platforms for lifelong learning in the flow-of-work. The idea is to bring back the focus on informal learning experiences like shared knowledge, performance support and continuous reinforcement. In contrast to formal education and training courses, which generally have low engagement and retention rates.
Our ‘upskilling’ solution having 3 layers — Experience, Content and Analytics — is being well received in Indian market by industries like automotive, healthcare and retail.
For the Experience — our social/conversational platforms are built on principles of cognitive science or the ‘science of learning’ and nudge theory. For the Content, we empower a network of learning influencers for different skills (domain experts, trainers and education providers) and curate it to individual needs. And lastly, we have an Analytics-driven LXP (Learning Experience Points) system to make the learning and sharing experiences truly count. LXPs can be used to certify competency level or redeem rewards like movie tickets, shopping vouchers, tuition fee support etc.
Our ambition is to create the biggest ecosystem of learners, learning influencers and reward partners — to solve the global ‘skill gap’ problem.
Int: Do you cooperate with Indian major universities?
UN: While it’s true we work more closely with businesses, we continue having deep engagement with higher education and skill training institutes. In fact, our journey also started as a skill training institute which helped us understand the real challenges. Following which we pivoted to being a technology provider.
Together with University 20.35 we are also in talks with leading Indian university IIT Bombay (my alma mater) for refining the competency framework and curriculum to meet the employability standards.
Int: So, you’re «repacking» existing educational content of the Universities and adapt it to companies’ requirements, aren’t you?
UN: Our platform empanels experts from Universities as content partners or ‘learning influencers’. They are required to publish content within the context of the industry or job role in focus. Also, the nature of content is required to be bite-sized i.e. easy to consume. For example, videos not more than 30–45 sec, podcast, infographics, GIFs, etc.
Int.: Which recommendations could you give to the participants of the Island?
UN: “Start small, Think big”. All great initiatives begin with a small idea. Only conversation between business leaders, educators, technologists and humanitarian experts leads to evolution of ideas. And keeping an eye on the big picture or vision is key to success.
Lastly, my advice for innovators is to work with top of the organization. It is the senior management and executives who make or break these efforts. Not only can’t you advance your ideas in such an organization, it is likely to fail in the future.
