IBM today announced that it has successfully delivered Phase-3 of EDU-SAT satellite based education program comprising of over 100 hours of live lectures transmitted to over 120 Schools in Karnataka. Organized in collaboration with Visvesvaraya Technological University, Belgaum (VTU), these sessions were attended by close to 15000 engineering students. The programme was an effort to enhance the technical knowledge and skills of post-graduate university students, giving them the market-driven knowledge that better positions them for jobs in the ICT market.

The course module, easily adaptable and integrated into ongoing lectures, covered technologies and skills such as System Z, Java, Web 2.0, Eclipse, Cell Architecture, SOA, High Performance Computing, Linux, DB2, Autonomic Computing, Rational, AIX, and Enterprise Applications.

Commenting on the announcement, Kalpana Margabandhu, Director – WebSphere Development said, “In today’s global economy, the ability to apply advanced technology, engineering and business thinking skills to a job is a prerequisite for success. These programmes enable students to acquire a fresh perspective to the technology underpinnings and equip them with the necessary knowledge for devising innovative winning solutions.”

Elaborating on the session, Dr. M.S.Shivkumar, Registrar, Visvesvaraya Technological University, said, “Over the last few years, distance education has come as the mainstay in the field of education. The integration of satellite technology and education has become an exceptional medium for sharing knowledge through useful contact across national and international borders. We are proud to be associated with IBM in their outreach programme that is focused on enhancing the technological perspective to students, preparing them better for the market.”

Committed to growing India’s IT ecosystem, IBM has spearheaded a series of initiatives, inviting hundereds of faculty from universities in a call for action. IBM’s University Relations teams have been partenering with academia to drive evolving open standards-based IT skills, essentially “in demand” skills for an “on demand world”. Some of the other activities under the University Relations Initiative include: developing strategic linkages with universities/colleges; assisting colleges with curriculum development and instructional material; helping colleges develop consistent, high quality curricula for leading and emerging technologies; promoting high quality education - by providing state-of-the-art support from IBM; evangelizing Open Standards technologies, critical for the future of IT industry.

IBM has also been actively involved in school reform programmes like Reinventing Education -- the company’s flagship program with an investment of $75 million worldwide. More than 100,000 teachers have been trained under this program worldwide, and IBM's community service program currently engages 44,000 employees who have donated nearly 2 million hours of service to local schools.

Sourced From: Vox Public Relations