Hitachi Software Engineering Co Ltd announced a new product in its 'StarBoard' series of electronic blackboards, intending to expand the sales to the education market. The company changed the functions of the 'PX-DUO-50' electronic blackboard and will release it Aug 17, 2008. The new product is intended for the 'School New Deal program,' which Japan's Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology proposed to enhance ICT (information and communication technology) and quake resistance of schools. The ministry is planning to set up an electronic blackboard priced at about
eLiteracy can save NZ$ 1.7 billion per year
NZ $1.7 billion can be saved every year by New Zealand by improving the productivity of its workers with support of Information and Communication Technology, said a report commissioned by the New Zealand Computer Society. The Computer Society has produced results of a 'desktop study' that shows a potential improvement in productivity of between one and three hours a week from improving individuals' and businesses' knowledge of ICT.
These figures come from a variety of existing studies of the results of ICT education in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, South America and Asia. On this basis, and assuming a conservative 1.7 hours a week saved over the working population that uses ICT in New Zealand, savings would be NZ$1820 per annum per worker, indicating a productivity gain of up to NZ$1.7 billion per annum for the whole country. The study claimed that increased productivity will result from high level of ICT experience that will ease the communication amongst employees and innovation for reorganisation of the business processes.
Harvard Business School says India’s growth to have global effects
India's economic growth will affect the global market place told the Harvard Business School (HBS), HBS announced today three India-specific executive programmes. These courses include Building a Global Enterprise in India, Develop India – Strategies for Growth, and Managing and Transforming Professional Service Firms.
Through the programmes the participants are expected to learn about the best practices from businesses with long-established worldwide brands, companies based in emerging markets that have more recently traversed the path to global growth, and those now embarking upon it. Each case study offers valuable lessons for any enterprise seeking to build scale in India today, the institute said.
PhD programme commences from July at IIT-Patna
The newly set-up Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in this Bihar city will start its doctoral programmes from next month, explained an official. 'IIT-Patna will become the first among the eight new IITs set up last year to start PhD programmes,' said institute official Subhash Pandey. The IIT will have PhD programmes in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Chemistry, Mathematics, Physics, Humanities and Social Sciences.
At present, the IIT is functioning from a polytechnic building here as a temporary campus. The process of land acquisition for a permanent campus is underway. The official added, that the first director of the institute A.K. Bhowmik will also assume charge in July.
Indian Funds to support power projects for African ICT
Funds are being provided by India to support electricity generation projects to boost the region's power supply in Africa, in addition to the funds India is providing for the development of various ICT projects in Southern Africa. Due to lack of investment in renewable energy and electricity generation, several Southern African countries including Zambia, Namibia and Malawi are faced with increased power shortages affecting ICT equipment, particularly in rural areas.
Indian Vice President Mohammed Hamid Ansari has signed agreements with Southern African countries including Zambia and Malawi for electric power generation and renewable energy projects, to ensure that the region has enough electricity. Computer training programmes are already being provided by Indian companies to Botswana and South Africa. Power shortage is an obstacle for the New Partnership of Africa's Development (Nepad), that plans to equip schools in Africa, to promote e-learning projects. Many African governments have been facing a challenge raising funds to buy generators to power ICT equipment. However, Indian companies are moving in to help the situation through investments in ICT and electricity generation projects.
$50 Million in Higher Education Resources, Training and Certifications by Microsoft
In an effort to help higher education institutions support economic stimulus efforts and work-force development strategies, Microsoft Corp. has committed up to $50 million in higher education resources, training and certifications through the Microsoft Education Alliance Program agreement. As part of the agreement, the company will provide resources and tools for short-term work-force training and higher education enhancements. The announcement was made at the Education Leaders Forum, a one-day forum jointly organized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and Microsoft, where more than 150 ministers of education, senior education officials and policy advisors are discussing how governments and universities can take full advantage of e-technology's potential to address the current knowledge and skills challenges facing higher education. Earlier this week, Microsoft and UNESCO announced a joint task force to help higher education institutions worldwide meet the growing challenge of supporting economic stimulus efforts and work-force development strategies. The UNESCO-Microsoft Task Force on Higher Education and ICT will develop a strategic plan of action to identify how ICT can be used by governments as a catalyst for change. Microsoft's $50 million commitment is supporting the mission of the new task force and enabling the implementation of critical UNESCO and Microsoft educational resources.
Given the current economic crisis, governments are faced with designing and funding enhancements to higher education in order to support and spur economic recovery. With its commitment of resources and tools, available through the Microsoft Education Alliance Program agreement, Microsoft aims to make it easier for governments and the public education sector to bring ICT access and skills to the next generation of students and teachers.
Philippines pushes IT, Academe alliance
In order to sustain ICT growth in province the Cebu Educational Development Foundation for IT (Cedfit) aims to strengthen the industry-academe linkage system in Cebu. Bonifacio Belen, Cedfit President mentioned that although there already exists industry-academe linkage structure, now a more active stance will be started by Cedfit to sustain Cebu's position as one of the premier ICT destinations in the world. Belen described that soon a raodmap will be formulated for a stronger industry-academe linkage in Cebu, in coordination with the National ICT Confederation of the Philippines.
Because the ICT industry is the most dynamic sector, the academe has to trail blaze with the fast changing need of industries for specialized skills, especially in high-value IT skills like programming, software development, animation, and others. This effort is not only seen to attract big-ticket investments for ICT sector, but also promote the gain of the brainy population of the country, luring Filipinos who are working abroad, to come back home, and find the stable job opportunity.
Assam to make IT mandatory in schools
At the launch of ICT@School and Rajiv Gandhi Computer Literacy Programme Phase-V at ITA Centre in Guwahati on Tuesday, Assam chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, handed a computer to a school Principal. As a matter of principle Dispur has decided to make computer education compulsory in schools.
Assam education minister Gautam Bora mentioned that the government would hold discussions with the Secondary Education Board of Assam to make computer education a compulsory subject in the matric examination. The programme was launched by chief minister Tarun Gogoi in the presence of Bora, IT minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, IT commissioner and secretary Niraj Verma and managing director of Assam Electronics Development Corporation (AMTRON) M.K. Yadava during a function at the ITA Centre, Machkhowa.
Quality education to villages by IGNOU and Sahaj
Srei Sahaj e-Village, a subsidiary of Srei Infrastructure has partnered with Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) to offer distance learning programmes in villages, with an aim to take international quality education at affordable costs for the rural India. Higher education would be made available to the villagers through 27,000 Common Service Centres (CSCs), which are set up in the states of West Bengal, Bihar, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Orissa, Tamil Nadu and Jammu & Kashmir. All courses will be accredited to IGNOU. Srei Sahaj will administer the programmes including enrollments, registration, fee collection, evaluation and will also do the certification online or manually.
Presently, there is a huge gap in the educational status of boys and girls within the rural sphere of the country, as against the urban youth. The net enrollment ratio of the rural youth stands at a mere 7.48 % for boys and 4.5 % for girls, which is remarkably lower than 17.84 % and 16.9 % respectively for urban boys and girls. However, with the use of modern ICT platform of Sahaj available at 12,000 Gram Panchayat units, the prestigious IGNOU higher education will be made available to the rural youth in digital format at the Sahaj Common Service Centers (CSCs). The rural youth would have unprecedented prospects to acquire IGNOU's internationally recognized certification, diplomas, degrees right in their village within a distance of three kilometers from their homes at the ICT backed, computerized Sahaj CSCs.
Sibal: Private investment in Education sector
Human resource development minister Kapil Sibal told the Lok Sabha on Wednesday that there was a need to expand the education sector. Replying to a debate in the Lok Sabha on demand for grants for the HRD ministry, Sibal made a strong pitch for greater private investment and allowing foreign universities with necessary regulatory mechanism in the sector. The minister said expansion was necessary but the government's reservation policy had to be followed. If there is one legacy of his predecessor Arjun Singh that Sibal has been virtually silent about it is reservation for socially and educationally backwards. Sibal has been lukewarm to the idea of extending reservations in the private unaided educational institutes. The Bill to extend reservations to the private unaided institutes is pending though it has been vetted by a group of ministers in the previous UPA administration. Given that reservations for SCs, STs and OBCs are now required to be given by law in centrally education institutes, it would seem that the minister was now perhaps considering extending the same to the private unaided and foreign universities.
Sibal was reiterating the principal of national treatment. As per WTO obligations, national treatment is an accepted principle, where foreign players are treated on a par with domestic players. Any exception to the national treatment principle would have to be as a bilateral agreement with India, and this would be at the discretion of the Indian government. As part of his reply, the minister announced that the government would introduce Right To Education Bill in the current session of Parliament and plans to go in for an overarching body for regulating higher education. The minister said the required expansion would require investment from the private sector. Government has allocated INR 85,000 crore for higher education in the 11th Plan.
