Friday, May 9, 2008

Microsoft Expands Commitment to Accessibility and High-Quality Education Across Asia Pacific Region

Bill Bill Gates denotes new partnerships that broaden the impact of technology
at the local level. JAKARTA, Indonesia, May 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Today, in his
keynote computer address at the Government Leadership Forum-Asia (GLF Asia) in Jakarta,
Microsoft Corp. President Bill Bill Gates announced respective new programs,
partnerships and offers that beef up Microsoft's committedness to and
investment in delivering accessible engineering and transforming education
for citizens across the Asia Pacific Ocean part and around the world. (Logo: ) The proclamations include new instruction tools for people with special
needs; the extension of an of import accomplishments development and certification
program available through Internet coffeehouses (iCafes) in the Philippines; the
further advancement of Microsoft's flagship K-12 instruction programme Partners in
Learning, which have now achieved a milepost figure of 100 million students
reached worldwide; and the enlargement of Microsoft Invention Centers in
Indonesia with Pelita Harapan University. "At the bosom of our attempts is the belief that engineering can provide
capabilities that are cardinal to creating new occupations and generating sustainable
economic growth, including entree to a quality instruction and the knowledge
and substructure to further local innovation," Bill Gates said. "We desire to do
everything we can to fit people with PCs, the Internet, productivity
software, e-mail and other tools of the digital information revolution so
that they can be full participants in the planetary cognition economy." Broadening Entree to Technology Microsoft believes information engineering can have got a important impact
on people's lives and is committed to working with public and private
sector organisations to seek solutions to spread out entree to technology. Demonstrating this commitment, Microsoft today announced it will be teaming
up with the Oscar-winning New Zealand-based animation studio Weta Workshop
and Australian software system developer Northern District Institute for
Community Education and Development (NTICED) to assist the estimated 10
percent of the world's population life with particular demands get skills
and cognition through the usage of technology. Initially, the collaboration
will do resources and tools based on its Partners in Learning Curriculum
available to pupils and pedagogues through an synergistic Web land site that
will present audio, written text, mental images and picture through rich
animation-based content. "Animation have the capacity to unlock the powerfulness of instruction for
children," said J. Easterby Wood, partnering manager of NTICED. "This new
collaboration will heighten the ability for pupils with learning
difficulties around the human race to discover, experience and larn for life." "Weta Workshop is very excited about collaborating with Microsoft to
help computer address assistive acquisition in communities all over the world," said
Richard Taylor, manager of Weta Workshop. "By creating a rich set of tools
and resources, we trust to give pedagogues and pupils an experience that
will speed up their promotion and ran into their alone needs." Committedness to Lifelong Learning Microsoft believes learning is a womb-to-tomb endeavor. In today's
knowledge-based economy, computing machine literacy have go a critical workplace
skill -- a accomplishment that billions of people worldwide still lack. Today, to
help computer address this of import need, Microsoft announced an understanding with
Philippines-based iCafe operator Netopia to establish an advanced pilot
program that conveys new acquisition and preparation chances to people
through Netopia's 169 iCafes. This programme will supply entree to software
such as the 2007 Microsoft Office system in improver to digital literacy
courses and free enfranchisements through the Microsoft IT Academy Learning
Portal to assist citizens addition the accomplishments and instruction necessary to construct or
advance their careers. "We are thrilled to be working with Microsoft to convey e-learning
technology to our iCafe clients throughout the Philippines," said George
H. Tan, chief executive officer of Netopia. "Our missionary post is to supply low-cost entree to
information and communicating to people without computing machines and the Internet. Now, with the digital literacy courses of study and enfranchisement from Microsoft, we
are expanding our services and enabling new opportunities." Collaboration With Universities to Stephen Foster Local Economic Growth Microsoft Invention Centers are at the head of edifice local
software economic systems through partnerships with universities around the world. Invention Centers supply entree to world-class resources for software
developers, IT professionals, students, academic research workers and
entrepreneurs. Today, Microsoft announced it will join forces with Pelita
Harapan University in Djakarta to open up a new Invention Center in Indonesia. There are currently four Invention Centers operating in Republic Of Indonesia in
partnership with leading universities across the country. This expansion
marks the 2nd biggest investing in the programme in Asia Pacific, after
China. First established in 2006, a web of 110 Invention Centers now
serve 100 communities in 60 states around the world, including more than than
30 across 13 states in Asia Pacific. Microsoft Invention Centers focus
on three core programmes for the benefit of local students, enterprisers and
other engineering industry players: -- Skills and Intellectual Capital offers software system development courses,
concern accomplishments and marketplace development training, and employment
programmes for students. -- Industry Partnerships Fosters the creative activity and development of industry
clusters, software system quality certification, and hands-on technology
labs. -- Invention includes supporting the Microsoft Imagine Cup, the world's
biggest pupil software system development competition. Imagine Cup engagement is an of import facet of the Microsoft
Innovation Center program. An outstanding illustration is the Bandung Institute
of Technology (ITB) Invention Center, which the past three old age has
fielded the winning squad that have represented Republic Of Indonesia at the worldwide
Imagine Cup finals. "Promoting invention amongst our pupil population assists guarantee that
Indonesia additions its ability to be competitory in the planetary information
economy," said Dr. Djoko Santoso, curate of Bandung Institute of
Technology. "The Imagine Cup supplies an chance for our pupils to
test their scheduling accomplishments against the best and the brightest students
in the world, and to develop software system that maps to existent issues facing
society today." This year, ITB's winning entry, Team Butterfly, showed how technology
can assist advance environmental sustainability by creating a coverage tool
that lets anybody to describe environmental maltreatment to alarm government
officials and the public. The squad will take this solution to the worldwide
finals in City Of Light in July. More than 42,000 pupils from across the Asia
Pacific part have got registered for the Imagine Cup 2008. More information on Microsoft Invention Centers can be establish at
. Partners in Learning Milestone Microsoft achieved an of import milepost in its attempts to transform
education across Asia Pacific Ocean and around the world, reaching more than than 100
million pupils globally through its flagship K-12 instruction initiative,
Partners in Learning. Earlier this year, Microsoft announced a recommitment
of $235.5 million (U.S.) to Partners in Learning that volition convey the
company's sum 10-year investment to nearly $500 million, and is estimated
to enable the programme to significantly spread out its impact by reaching many
more pupils and instructors around the human race in the adjacent five years. One such as illustration is Korea's Omnipresent Learning, or "U-Learning,"
project, developed in concurrence with the Korean Ministry of Education,
Science and Technology. Students utilize engineering such as as as Tablet PCs and
mobile devices to access, share and present content and digital textbooks
in topics such as math, Korean, English, society, music and science. The initial airplane pilot programme started in nine schools and have since
expanded to 20, and the authorities takes to fully digitize all course of study by
2020. Together, these products, programmes and partnerships link a global
community of governments, spouses and pedagogues in an attempt to improve
access to low-cost technologies, make new womb-to-tomb acquisition and skills
training opportunities, and support educational inventions that are
relevant to local communities in Asia and around the world. Microsoft's vision for instruction in the 21st century is driven by the
shared belief that the usage of engineering in instruction will assist remove
limitations, surrogate invention and enable everyone to accomplish their fullest
potential. More information on Microsoft Partners in Learning can be establish at
. About Unlimited Potential Microsoft, through its Unlimited Potential vision, is committed to
making engineering more affordable, relevant and accessible for the 5
billion people around the human race who make not yet bask its benefits. The
company takes to make so by helping to transform instruction and surrogate a
culture of innovation, and through these agency enable better occupations and
opportunities. By working with governments, intergovernmental
organizations, nongovernmental organisations and industry partners,
Microsoft trusts to attain its first major milepost -- to attain the adjacent 1
billion people who are not yet realizing the benefits of engineering -- by
2015. More information can be establish at
. About Microsoft Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq: ) is the worldwide leader in
software, services and solutions that aid people and concerns realize
their full potential.

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