The Department of Information Technology through Society for Promotion of IT in Chandigarh (SPIC) in association with NASSCOM and Department of Higher Education successfully conducted National Assessment of Competence (NAC) on September 9, 2007 in Chandigarh. NAC - Test got a overwhelming response in Chandiarh, around 1230 students from partner colleges of Chandigarh sat for the test. Students pursuing their final year of graduation, post graduation from Chandigarh Colleges from all streams were eligible for this test. To create talent pool for the industry and to attract industry to this region UT Administration has taken an initiative by adopting NAC Test at a cost of over 40 Lakhs. Administration has sponsored the entire fee of all the candidates who sat for the NASSCOM Assessment of Competence (NAC) test from Chandigarh. Candidate is assessed on parameters like Verbal ability, comprehension and writing ability, numerical and analytical, creativity and Listening and keyboard skills. This test would get a ready assessment of candidates capabilities so that they can be employed by IT and IT enabled services Industry and also get themselves certified nationally. NASSCOM through extensive industry participation has created this Assessment tool which becomes industry standard nationally and ensures the transformation of a "trainable" workforce into an employable workforce and also help industry in Cost savings through cutting off steps from the recruitment process resulting in reduced cycle time and more efficient utilization of resources. Nasscom has devised this certification test keeping in view the increasing need for imparting intense training, particularly for upgrading the capabilities of fresh graduates who are willing to join the industry.

Candidates who will be sitting for the test will be recognized nationally through the standard format of result. This step of the Administration will further upgrade the human resource availability in this region. It will also make Chandigarh a favorite place for seeking human resource by BPO/ITES industry which will help in employment generation and will help in attracting serious investors. The test will create a concept of 'education to employability' starting the process of alignment of education so that greater share of graduating pool is employable. It will create a national standard for recruitment of entry level talent and will result in ease of benchmarking for individual processes with industry standards. NAC Test will give students an opportunity to get certified on a national level under NASSCOM. This test will provide candidate with scores on different skills and then candidate can apply to different companies across India on the basis of these scores and need not go through similar selection processes at different companies.