The
Dubai Cares-Microsoft Digital initiative was announced during a special
signing ceremony attended by His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al
Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of
Dubai, and Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates.
The
joint initiative will provide children with access to technology that
will help develop the knowledge and skills necessary for students,
teachers and communities within the next five years.
The
programme is aimed at raising the level of computer literacy among
school staff and parents in needy communities and help teachers foster
a culture of innovation among students. The initiative will result in a
dramatic increase in the availability of quality education and
demonstrate how technology can enhance learning and improve educational
systems in the least developed parts of the world.
In
the first phase, Microsoft will help establish Learning Resource
C|e|n|t|r|e|s |that |s|er|ve |as community based e-learning hubs for
students, teachers and communities. The next phase will enable Dubai
Cares and governments concerned to launch targeted PC campaigns that
will ensure an effective learning environment with the relevant
software, capacity development and educational curricula.
Microsoft founder Bill Gates met officials from the Dubai School of Government.
Microsoft
will also soon partner with the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum
Foundation to launch the Arab Education and Research Network, a
first-ever knowledge portal in the Arab world.
Under
an agreement signed between Gates and Mohammed Al Gergawi, Chairman of
the Board of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation, it has been
agreed that Microsoft will provide state-of-the-art technology platform
for collaborative research and knowledge creation in the Arab world.
Microsoft
will build the critical communications capabilities required for
effective collaboration. These will include the latest knowledge
sharing solutions, which will help develop an Arab Research Database
and an extensive e-library.
Microsoft’s
world leading communication platforms, online chat and discussion
boards, newsletters, and sites for blogging and social networking will
also form a core of the project.
This
technology aims to boost the region’s capabilities and serve as a
gateway to world-class knowledge, providing the right platform to
encourage researchers and faculties contributing to the Arab knowledge
development.
The
platform will facilitate communication and the exchange of information
and knowledge among professors, researchers and academic institutions.
It will also help construct a foundation for a data bank of digital
Arabic research to provide a backbone for the Foundation’s initiatives.
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