New Delhi: In a bid to broaden educational reform to improve technical education and prepare students for the workforce of tomorrow, All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) chairman Dr. S.S Mantha has announced that it is deploying microsoftlive@edu as one solution amongst many such initiatives with IT majors and Industries to more than 10,000 technical colleges and institutes throughout India.

Live@edu is the first step in AICTE's deployment of Microsoft Cloud Computing for education, making it Microsoft's largest cloud customer ever. This will expand students' access to high-quality technical education and collaboration.

The event also witnessed the launch of AICTE'S two new management programmes by Union Human Resource Development Minister, Kapil Sibal.

A Five year integrated masters level management programme is intended to educate and groom the students to get entry level managerial positions in manufacturing / services organizations or to start and run own ventures with good business knowledge.

It will be a flexible programme which will provide an undergraduate degree in 3 or 4 years followed by a Master's degree in five years. The admission to the Programme at first year level shall be through a Common Entrance Test conducted for the purpose by AICTE.

Apart from this a five year dual degree management course will also commence from this academic session. Students will be admitted through the CET at X plus II level. The students graduating through this programme shall have opportunities to work at management levels in the core engineering industry.