Amid the updates about its various initiatives, Nasscom — India’s software companies’ association — announced the appointment of Som Mittal as the new President of the organization. Mittal, currently the head of services business of HP for Asia-Pacific and Japan region, will be assuming the office of the President from January next year. He was appointed three months after the announcement of the succession plan was made.

Som Mittal, the new President of Nasscom (left); Kiran Karnik, the outgoing President of Nasscom (center) and Lakshmi Narayanan, Chairman of Nasscom (right)

Briefing at the occasion about Nasscom’s other initiatives, the current President, Kiran Karnik said, “We are planning to launch a NAC test for the North-East region of our country and expect to generate about 20,000 jobs through it.” The NAC, National Assessment of Competence, is a certification test aimed at creating a robust and continuous pipeline of talent by continuously assessing candidates on key skills through a national standard assessment. The process will make screening of candidates easier for firms.

Lakshmi Narayanan, Chairman, Nasscom was also present at the do and gave his views on the debate on outsourcing in the forthcoming U.S. presidential elections. “The magnitude of the debate will be far less than what it was four years back. Now India is not only a service provider but also a customer to many American companies in various verticals,” he said. “Also India is an answer to the global talent crunch because of the demographic advantages.”

The body made other announcements as well that included launching of a physical office for the Data Security Council of India (set up in April this year), National Skills Registry touching the mark of 500,000 registrations by the end of this year, launching of IT finishing schools and establishing relationships with educational institutions to impart industry-oriented education.