Bengaluru: IBM said it would train two lakh women in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) skills across India. The company said each collaboration between IBM and Indian state governments is part of a three-year programme to increase the participation of girls and women in STEM careers.IBM on Monday signed agreements with states of Karnataka, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh and has plans to take this programme to other states in the next few months.Increasing use of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence cloud computing has created demand for a highly qualified workforce across the country.The company said its commitment in India comes as part of a multipronged global initiative to close the STEM skills gap and prepare the workforce worldwide for “new collar careers” and the collaboration with states to train women is one of the several initiatives announced at the IBM India Skills Forum in New Delhi on Monday.Other initiatives include a two-year Advanced Diploma Programme in emerging technologies created in collaboration with the Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, which will be available to 100 Industrial Training Institutes (ITI), including 50 all-women ITIs, over the next three years; supporting math teachers across India with Teacher Advisor With Watson in collaboration with the Kendriya Vidyalaya schools network; making Teachers TryScience resources accessible to four million teachers in the Indian Open Educational Resources community for STEM.“We know that AI, like other transformative technologies before it, will have a profound impact on jobs and the workplace. We need to work together to equip the workforce with a new generation of skills, so the benefits of AI and technology can be experienced by the many, not just a few. Partnering with the Indian government, we are investing in the empowerment of millions of young women and their teachers with training in STEM skills, so that India’s growing economy has the right resources and more women in the workforce,” Ginni Rometty, IBM chairman, president and CEO, was quoted in a press release.