The National Skills Registry: Securing the IT, ITES and BPO Industries
By Paul Catiang

To provide greater ease in keeping track of professionals working in the IT, ITES and BPO industries and in running background checks, India’s National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) undertook a project lasting several years, a project that recently launched the National Skills Registry.

India has, in recent years, experienced a booming growth in outsourcing. As the premiere association concerned with protecting the industry’s interests, NASSCOM developed several initiatives to keep global clients satisfied, maintain India’s lead in the world market for global outsourcing, and to improve the industry’s processes. One such initiative is the National Skills Registry, a database of IT professionals in India and their personal, academic and professional records are included.

Since India does not have a public, central database of its citizens, there is considerable difficulty in verifying information about the backgrounds and credentials of any employee. In the past, the Indian IT industry has engaged third parties to conduct these necessary background checks on the people they wish to employ. This practice is, however, limited to the companies who use it, to the candidates being checked, and the extent of the details that need verification. Every time an employee changes employers, the cycle of background checks starts all over again, resulting in inefficient screening processes.

The National Skills Registry aims to provide a standardized database on all people working in IT, ITES and BPO in India. Thus far, the NSR has up to 100,000 employee backgrounds in its still-growing database, composed of employees from the NSR’s member companies. On behalf of NASSCOM, the National Securities Depository Limited, or NSDL, set up the NSR. The NSDL has appointed its fully-owned subsidiary, NSDL Database Management Limited, or NDML, to apply its technological expertise, physical network, and management experience in the setting up and management of the National Skills Registry.

The NSR system issues a unique, lifetime, and valid identity to all registered IT professionals. Biometric matching through fingerprints ensures full confidentiality of the registered IT professionals’ personal information. By making fingerprint identification part of the registration process, the National Skills Registry effectively prevents multiple accounts from being registered for the same IT professional.

Registered IT professionals have full control over their personal data, and may update their accounts on the NSR over the Internet. Companies wishing to conduct electronic background checks on the registered IT professionals may verify details through Empanelled Background Checkers appointed by NDML. These background checkers have been chosen for their experience and expertise in this field and have agreed to the standards defined by NDML.

The NSR provides several benefits in several forms. To India and the Indian IT, ITES, and BPO industries, it enhances India’s image as a more secure offshoring destination through the heightened level of security. The industry-wide, commonly accepted standards for background check practices also reinforce this image.

Subscriber companies are given a self-sustaining system for hosting and sharing information on the existing pool of IT professionals, allowing for greater efficiency in recruitment and screening, more savings in background check costs and time, and effective monitoring of background checkers.

Lastly, IT professionals are given a permanent profile on an industry-wide database driven by NASSCOM. All privacy is ensured on the IT professionals’ parts while cutting down on repeated background checks with each change in employment. Companies wishing to view the profiles may only do so with the IT professionals’ consent, and these people are notified if their profiles are viewed. Given the level of security and the standards the NSR employs, the registered and verified information thus has its credibility enhanced.

“We hope that these steps will dramatically raise the level of security and protect all the honest people working in this industry. Like airport security, this is a necessary process that we all need to go through, in our own interest,” says Kiran Karnik, President of NASSCOM. “I look forward to the contribution of each company and each individual in taking the IT industry forward and making a difference to the country by creating millions of jobs and economic growth, even as we make India a global leader in this industry,” he concludes.

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Source: NASSCOM .