PROVIDENCE – Infosys Ltd. launched its 25,000-square-foot Providence Design and Innovation Center at 75 Fountain St. Tuesday with Gov. Gina M. Raimondo and other Rhode Island officials in attendance.
The governor’s office said Tuesday that Infosys has already hired 100 workers toward its goal of employing 500 in Rhode Island by 2020.
The company was previously approved for incentives under the R.I. Qualified Jobs Incentive Act, the Rebuild Rhode Island program and the First Wave Closing Fund.
The company is expected to receive tax credits up to $10 million, mostly from the Qualified Jobs incentives.
The median salary for the incoming jobs coming to Rhode Island is $79,000 per year, according to the R.I. Commerce Corp.
“Critical thinking led by the practice of strategic design is critical to building the world-class, human-centric solutions our clients need to accelerate their digital transformations,” stated Salil Parekh, CEO of Infosys. “We are excited to inaugurate our flagship Design and Innovation Center in Providence and continue our partnership with the state of Rhode Island. The demand for talent with strategic design skills will only rise, and Infosys is training American workers in these skills, keeping them and our clients on the front lines of innovation.”
At the event, the company announced a new partnership with the Community College of Rhode Island to create a Digital Economy Aspirations Lab, which will develop educational programming to help students prepare for growth in the digital economy job sector.
The program, in its first year, will support 15 to 20 students through a information technology mentorship, and will provide an additional 200 CCRI students exposure to opportunities at the innovation hub, the governor’s office said.
The lab will be located at the Infosys office in the company’s Providence location, but it intends to open more labs at CCRI locations and expects to expand nationally.
The deal will also create two task forces consisting of CCRI faculty and industry leaders. The first will identify entry-level roles across industries suitable for community college graduates, the competencies required and the skills needed to satisfy those needs.
The second task force will focus on helping colleges offer experiential learning and provide standardized credits within all degree programs at the community college level that would be transferable to four-year college programs.
The company had also previously announced curriculum development partnership with the Rhode Island School of Design.
“Infosys is a global leader in information technology, and I’m so excited that they’ve chosen Rhode Island as the home of their new innovation center,” stated Raimondo. “In partnership with RISD and CCRI, Infosys will be helping train today’s Rhode Islanders for tomorrow’s jobs. Our state has some of the top designers in the world, and it’s a testament to the strength of our workforce that Infosys is looking to tap into, and further develop, our talent.”
Chris Bergenheim is the PBN web editor. Email him at Bergenheim@PBN.com.
