IBM expands Education & Innovation in India

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Underscoring its commitment to enabling India to become an innovators nation and bridge the digital divide, IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced that it imparted training on open standards based technologies to more than 80,000 students in over 745 colleges in India during 2006. In addition, in 2006, IBM's Great Mind Challenge, designed to improve the software development skills of Indian students as they work to solve issues facing businesses today, saw participation from over 700 colleges involving 21,000 students and 3,900 faculty from 24 States in India.

 

In keeping with IBM's commitment to bridge the digital divide in India, 625 additional Young Explorer units are being deployed across Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Pondicherry, Chennai, Pune, Jaipur and Haryana. IBM's Young Explorer program looks at taking IT education to underprivileged schools. To date, over 1,200 Young Explorer units have been donated by IBM covering 500 teachers in 200 schools and 30,000 children across India.

 

In partnership with Corporation of Chennai and State Governments of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, IBM launched the Reinventing Education program in India in 2006. This program, to be run over a two year period, involves more than 30 schools and reaches over 7,000 students in grades six to ten. IBM's Reinventing Education program is focused on improving the quality of teaching and learning in middle and secondary schools.  The program helps with the development of new curriculum and teaching methodologies with a view to enhancing the transition from primary to high school and improving retention rates of students in secondary education.

 

Reiterating IBM's commitment to India, Mr. Shanker Annaswamy, Regional General Manager, IBM India /South Asia said, "Our vision for IBM India is to be a trusted partner in India's growth, and our mission is to empower stakeholders - students, governments, our partners, and our customers with the technologies and skills that can help them innovate and drive India's success on the global stage. In 2006 we made several investments in skills and talent development in India through our education, government outreach, and research and development initiatives."

 

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