Service ProvidersTasked on Driving Business with Wi-Fi

Ford

Taylor

 THE growing numbers of devices that comes with Wi-Fi enabled solution has prompted the Cisco Internet Business Solutions Group (IBSG) to recommend that service providers should consider assisting users to drive their business with more introduction of Wi-Fi devices.

According to the Cisco 2012 mobile user survey conducted by the IBSG, there is an increasing global demand for mobile devices and network connectivity using Wi-Fi and traditional mobile networks.

The study, which also revealed that Wi-Fi is now playing critical roles in meeting the business needs of consumers predicted that Wi-Fi will soon become the predominant access technology for smartphones within two years.

The report, which was presented to  ICT journalist via the Cisco teleconference solution and attended by ICT journalist in Nigeria at the Cisco head office in Lagos highlighted that majority of mobile devices now have Wi-Fi Internet access capabilities.

The teleconference media parley, was presided over by Director, Cisco IBSG Service Provider Practice, Stuart Taylor and Director Cisco IBSG for Emerging Markets, Peter Ford from Cisco office in London and had journalist from Kenya,South Africa,Egypt and Nigeria in attendance.

According to the duo, with the exception of smartphones, Wi-Fi is now the predominant access technology for mobile devices saying, “there has also been an increase in ‘nomadic’ devices like laptops, tablets, and eReaders that almost exclusively connect to the Internet through Wi-Fi”.

The survey revealed that mobile devices are now increasingly used for entertainment stating that almost half of mobile users are consuming all forms of video, music, books, and games on their devices on a regular basis.

The trend, the survey observed is expected to increase as devices become more powerful and networks become faster noting that the mobile access no longer exclusively means using devices while on the road.

According to the IBSG survey, consumers use their mobile devices for more than 2.5 hours at home on a typical day explaining that “people are expecting to increase their home use of mobile devices even more.

“This shift in where people use their mobile devices has seen an increase in the connection through Wi-Fi. Even the majority of smartphone users are supplementing their mobile connectivity with Wi-Fi. With the exception of coverage, people prefer Wi-Fi over mobile to connect their devices. While Wi-Fi is not able to compete with the ubiquity of cellular network coverage, respondents consider Wi-Fi easier to use and more reliable than mobile”.

The survey, which also captured the Wi-Fi hotspots showed that a third of mobile users are taking advantage of public Wi-Fi hotspots on a weekly basis saying the most popular locations are public outdoors, coffee shops, restaurants, and retail stores.

“With publicly accessible Wi-Fi evolving so quickly, people are expecting free Wi-Fi access. The rapidly evolving public Wi-Fi business has significantly changed consumers’ expectations. As a result, today very few the users surveyed are actually paying for public Wi-Fi”, the survey noted.

Explaining further about the growing presence of Wi-Fi hotspots at public places, Ford said there are now Wi-Fi hotspots in trains and busses in the United Kingdom saying that there are still challenges broadband availability.

He however, said that residents in neighbourhoods tackle this problem by sharing their Wi-Fi access with neighbours who in turn give access to those they share with when they roam.

He noted that a major cause of service disruption and poor quality of service in the United kingdom is the stealing of copper of fibre cables that are buried in the ground adding that high cost of broadband access is still an issue.

He said that this Wi-Fi hotspots is purely a private sector service driven only demand and creation services by government can increase supply and bring price down.

He advised that for Nigeria to fully benefit from the arrival fibre cables that are resting on the shore, services that require broadband uses as well as other business needs must be addressed.

 For instance, he said that it is not economical for the British Telecoms go the villages in the United kingdom adding that in the village where he lives, which a trains ride to London there are no Wi-Fi hotspots.

Taylor in the survey disclosed that there is a growing preference for Wi-Fi to mobile for connecting mobile devices saying that if given a choice between access networks, the survey highlighted that mobile users choose Wi-Fi over mobile across all network attributes, with the obvious exception of coverage.

“Also worth noting is that across most attributes, one-quarter of consumers see no difference between the two networks. While Wi-Fi cannot compete with the now nearly ubiquitous coverage of cellular networks, it is remarkable that consumers consider Wi-Fi easier to use and more reliable than mobile”, he said.

He noted further that despite the technical superiority of cellular mobility in the area of security, people clearly do not make this distinction adding, “as is often the case with technology, there seems to be a huge gap between the technical reality and user perception across the key distinguishing attributes of the two access networks”.

The results of the Cisco IBSG survey indicated that the market is on the verge of a “New Mobile” paradigm in which Wi-Fi and mobile networks are seamlessly integrated and indistinguishable in the mobile users’ mind.

For instance, almost 60 percent of consumers surveyed were “somewhat” or “very” interested in a proposed offer that provides unlimited data across combined access networks for a flat monthly fee.

Some of the benefits consumers noted were lower overall costs and unlimited data, signalling the end of uncertainty about overage charges, however, more than one-quarter of people liked the location flexibility, reliability, and seamless transfer between networks that this proposition offered.

ICANN Wants More African Involvement

Leaders of Africa’s internet community have unveiled a plan that is part of a bid to dramatically increase African involvement in the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN’s) multi-stakeholder model.

The initiative presented to ICANN during the organisation’s 45th public meeting in Toronto, Canada by the Africa Strategy Working Group (ASWG). It was formed after ICANN’s new president and chief executive officer, Fadi Chehadé, encouraged a stronger voice from the African continent in ICANN’s multi-stakeholder model.

The three year initiative, entitled ICANN's New Approach to Africa, lays out clear goals and milestones and an action plan for the first 12 months. is a collaborative effort by AFRINIC, Africa's Regional Registry for Internet Number Resources and the ICANN community. It’s planned that the initiative will be posted for public comment.

Currently, African internet users represent only 6 per cent of internet users worldwide. This initiative is designed to dramatically increase that number.

 “When we met three months ago at the ICANN meeting in Prague, I felt a sense of frustration at our inability to come together and move the Africa agenda forward,” said Chehadé.

“It’s incredible what this working group has achieved in such a short period of time by engaging with many concerned groups and individuals through the multi-stakeholder process,” he added.

Nii Quaynor of Ghana, chair of the ASWG, said, “We employed a bottom-up, open and public process in developing this initiative.”

“We think this plan will lead to dramatically increased African participation in ICANN and greater presence for the organization on the African continent.”

“We are taking a new approach to Africa,” said Tarek Kamel, a senior advisor to the ICANN President.

“This plan is based on capacity building, business development, specifically developing the Domain Name System (DNS) business in Africa and insuring inclusion.”

Nigeria can Tackle Software Challenge, says Indian Expert

Kamal Yadav, technical consultant, and Varun Yadav, senior manager, Marketing and International Business, both of Busy Infotech Private Limited, at the unveiling of Busy software solution in Lagos.

In order for the exiting gap between Nigeria and Indian software industry to be bridged government must tackle the issue of infrastructure and give incentive to practitioners in the industry.

Speaking to ICT-BizAfrica on the state of the software industry in Nigeria, an Indian software expert, Mr. Varun Yadav said that the gap between the industry in both countries is not too wide, expressing hope that there is every possibility that Nigeria can catch up with Indian in the development of software.

He however said that if that must happen soon the right infrastructure and incentive must be made available for the industry to thrive saying that the Indian software industry is where it is today due to the support that it getting from the Indian government.

Yadav, who is the senior manager, marketing and international business for Busy, an Indian software company operating in Nigeria said that the software industry in Nigeria has the capacity to be a world leader.

According to him, Nigerians are now taking career in information and communication technology very serious stating that even there are government initiative that are driving the people to acquire ICT skills.

He disclosed that a lot of Nigerian ICT experts and companies are now interacting with Indian ICT companies stating that many companies in the country are now investing in ICT.

Yadav who was in the country as part of its role in Busy said that he was in the country to unveil its new accounting solution, BUSY 12, one of the most popular Accounting and Inventory Management software for MSMEs in India, with over half-a-million users in over 20 countries.

He said that BUSY 12 comes with a host of new features and enhanced functionalities including sales/purchase quotation, customizable reports, data access through SMS/e-mail, auto back-up of data, and provision for voucher audit.

For instance, in BUSY 12, he said, “the user can customize the reports to suit his needs. He can add new columns/rows in existing reports, hide existing columns from reports, apply formulae between report columns, create multiple formats for each report, tag users with report formats, and link report columns to database using SQL queries”.

Yadav explained that BUSY 12, comes with an automatic data back-up facility that the user would not need to spend time on taking back-up of his critical business data stressing, “This feature comes with an automatic data scheduler which lets the user take the back-up of all companies in one go, separate the folders date-wise, take back-up of data for any number of days. The user will get auto generated email alerts for any operation related to data back-up.”

He further said that the  user can access his business information like account balance, outstanding bills and stock balance on his mobile phone through SMS and ledger, outstanding bills, and daily Sales/Purchase receipts on his e-mail adding that the user can let his Customers/Vendors know their account balance, outstanding details on their own.

“With BUSY 12, the user can prepare Sales/Purchase Quotation,customize the quotation format to suit his requirements, link the quotation with corresponding Order, Challan, and Invoices”, he said.

The BUSY 12, Yadav noted helps the user to secure data against theft/misuse saying that company data with selective computers is accessible only from those computers thereby eliminating the risk of theft.

He added that BUSY 12 comes in three editions with each edition addressing needs specific to various growth stages  of MSMEs– Basic Edition for traders and distributors requiring basic features, Standard Edition for traders, retailers and manufacturers requiring power features & Enterprise Edition for small and medium enterprises.

MTN Set to Battle Identity Theft

While apprehension continues to build concerning the security of mobile money banking, telecommunications company MTN, has began a strong battle against identity theft with special security proof that will secure all data stored in the SIM of its subscribers.

This initiative, the first of its kind in the industry is expected to put identity theft at bay even as the mobile money banking system seems to take its rightful place in the economy.

The battle against identity theft was made known to the media last week during the media launch of the MTN Special Security Number in Lagos.

While unveiling the new value added service(VAS) from the stable of MTN to its customers, which comes at no cost, the general manager customer relations, MTN, Mr. Akinwunmi Braithwaite said that the new VAS designed to address the anxiety that security of data in SIM card has brought to bear on its customers.

According to him, the desire for a VAS that would address this peculiar need of data security of its customers was due to the concept in MTN that the customer owns the MTN brand.

 He disclosed that about 200 staff of the company had brainstorm on what to do to add value to the life of its customers saying that the introduction of the Special Security Number was one of the concepts that came out of that task.

Braithwaite recalled that before the introduction of the security number, a lot of people have been victims of identity theft stressing that since the mobile phones have become a special device it now contains about 80 per cent of the entire data that concerns the life of the user.

He stated that since most identity theft are committed by people who are close to owner of the phone accessing data in the SIM becomes easy steal whatever data that are in the phone.

While giving details of how a customer on the MTN network can be begin to enjoy the service of the security number, he said the Security Number consists of 12 digits

Customer Identification number and four digits Security Key that is totally unique and personal to each customer and is already being forwarded to customers via SMS.

He said further that He said customers who have registered their SIMs but have not received notification of their MTN Security Number, can visit any MTN Walk-in Centre closest to them or call MTN customer care toll free line-180, adding that upon verification of ownership of the customer’s SIM, the security number will be sent to him/her.

The newly introduced MTN Security Number gives customers full access to MTN’s entire service channels like Walk-incentres, Customer Care Help line 180, Web Self Service and My IVR-181 as well as empowering customers to resolve most of their issues using a number of avenues, including telephone and the Internet.

Describing the new VAS as an open door to a world of convenience and Do It Yourself (DIY) for MTN customers, Braithwaite, said that the MTN Security Number affords customers security and protection from mobile fraud and offers uniform authentication and unique identity on the MTN network.

He stated that the the security number is very important and customers must protect  it, keep it private and not disclose it to anyone adding it will not be held liable for any loss or damage resulting from the disclosure of the number to third parties.

While answering questions from journalist, general manager, corporate affairs, Mrs. Funmi Omogbenigun, said that the first step towards securing data on the SIM was done when subscribers registered their SIM saying that with the security number, MTN customers can now do business without someone hacking into the database in their SIM.

According to her, it is mandatory for all MTN subscribers to have the security number adding that if for any reasons the number is compromised the number can be change,

She however advised that it is important that the user do repeated change of the number explaining that while the first 12 digits comes from MTN, the user is expected to generate the other four digits.

NCC Denies Involvement in Frequency Band Racketeering

Director International Labour Organisation (ILO), West Africa, Mrs. Sina Thumandiwire, presenting the Labour Crown Award to Mr. Lorenzo Gomez, Glo Divisional Director, Abuja.

THE Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has denied its involvement in frequency racketeering and the alleged sale of a frequency slot belonging to the Nigerian police to a private firm, Open Skys.

In an interview with journalist in Lagos, Head, Media and Public Relations of the NCC, Mr. Reuben Muoka said that the story making rounds that the Commission is involoved in such act was not true.

Muoka who are denied the story that the current leadership of the Commission has issued frequencies to Smile Communications without due process said that most people are not aware of the procedure involved in frequency sale.

He explained that “the story in its entirety lacks basic understanding of frequency allocation and its processes involved, resulting in unsubstantiated information capable of misleading the public and industry stakeholders”.

 He stated that “the frequencies allocated to Open Skys and Smile Communications are in two frequency different bands, and followed a due process for similar frequencies at the Commission, and began since 2009”.

 According to him, the frequency spectrum allocated to the Police by the Commission is intact and has not in any way being affected by the allocation stressing that “the Current Executive Vice Chairman of the Commission, Dr. Eugene Juwah, did not initiate the allocation of the aforesaid frequencies, having resumed in July 2010, while the process began since 2009.

“ Even after resumption at the NCC, Dr. Juwah has strictly followed the due process of issuance of licenses and frequencies. In the case of Open Skys, its allocation process began in 2008 following a Presidential directive to the Commission for allocation of a portion in the 450 MHz  to NIGCOMSAT”.

He went further to stated that “A request, which the Commission’s Board acceded to on the condition that NIGCOMSAT, being a government agency, must seek for private sector partnership before qualifying for such allocation.  Upon compliance and submission of the name of Open Skys, the company applied for the license and frequency in 2009”.

“Note that the use of 450 MHz  for commercial telecommunications was approved by the  National Frequency Management Council (NFMC) on Nov  5, 2004. After this approval, occupants in this band like the police, Shell PDC, Agip, Chevron, and some others, were relocated to specific portions of the band from where they had indiscriminately occupied.

“The Nigerian Police was specifically on 18th of October 2005, approved to be moved to  469.375 – 469.975 MHz / 459.375 – 459.975 MHz of this spectrum. Open Skys, in which NIGCOMSAT has interest, were to pay the police for the relocation cost estimated at N350 Million, which from our records, was complied with”, he said.

Muoka revealed that “Open Skys was thereafter invoiced for the sum of N1.141billion, for 5 years to enable the re-farming of the frequency while it paid the sum of N892,455,010.60 as frequency fee destined for the Federation Account while the balance of  N247,544,989.40 later adjusted to N350 Million would cover the additional cost of replacement of the old radios belonging to the Police since they will not be attuned to the new frequency spectrum, was paid”.

He described the allegation of racketeering with any  frequency belonging to the Police, to and allocation to a private company, as false, saying that currently, the Nigerian Police, Shell, AGIP and others still have allocation on the different portions of the 450MHz Band.

“All the decisions on the above were taken by the Board of the Commission and all the due processes were followed. It is the Commission that also decides which of the available allocation processes as prescribed by the relevant laws, are applied during any allocation of frequencies”, he said.

On the Smile Communications Ltd case,he said that the company was in 2009 awarded a Unified Access Service License (UASL) for ten years, till 30th June 2019, a Private Networks Link, PNL and a Spectrum in the 850 MHz Band for implementation of the licenses, having applied since 2008 adding that “Its applications were processed in line with sections 123 and 33 of the Act and in compliance with our licensing procedures”.

He stated that Smile Communications was licensed to provide broadband multimedia services on the 850 MHz Band nationwide and was assigned 15 MHz spectrum based on Time Division Duplexing (TDD) in the 850 MHz band to provide wireless access services in 2009.

He also revealed that “For its UASL license,  Smile Communications paid N320,250,000.00 on 26th June 2009, for the PNL license, it paid N46,830,000.00 on 26th February 2009, and for its Spectrum License with 10 years validity from July 2009, it paid N2,154,600,000 (Two Billion, One Hundred and Fifty Four Million, Six Hundred Thousand Naira which is for the Federation Account, and also paid N718,200,000 for the additional 5 MHz”.

Child Development: Experts Caution on Negative Impact of ICT Devices

Chairman, Openmedia,Engr Ernest Ndukwe and Chairperson, Women in Technology in Nigeria(WITIN), Mrs.Marth Omoekpen Alade at a one day Stakeholders Tech4D Forum with the theme: ICT & Child Development organised by the Women in Technology in Nigeria (WITIN) a non-governmental organisation.

THE growing interest of children in the use of information and communications technology (ICT) devices have the tendency of affecting their development negatively, if parents and adult do not ensure control.

That was the submission of experts in the ICT industry at a one day Stakeholders Tech4D Forum with the theme: ICT and Child Development organised by the Women in Technology in Nigeria (WITIN) a non-governmental organisation.

An expert in  software engineering at the University of Lagos, Mr. Chris Uwaje in paper, ICT: The Future and Survivability of the Nigerian Child revealed that at lot of Nigerian children are far ahead of their parents in the use of ICT devices and tools stating that while the children are at the neptune level in the use of ICT, the parents are at the earth level.

Citing the case of late Cynthia Osokogu who was lured to her death through activities on the social media platform, Facebook as one of the several negative impact of ICT, he said that there are growing trends in the society that suggest that ICT have negative impact.

According to him, children know so much about the use of ICT than their parents stressing that if parents much protect their wads from such negative impact, they should be willing to learn about ICT.

Uwaje stated that the Nigerian child is at the centre of the growing impact ICT on the society and development saying that there is already a huge worry on how ICT can be managed to develop the Nigerian child’s education.

He advised parents to be humble enough to let their children teach them things they do not know about ICT so that the parents can in turn protect them from the negative things that ICT offers.

Acting director, ICT, Federal Ministry of Information, Mrs. Veronica Adeyemo in a paper, Information Technology and Early Child Development: What Parents should Know, said that part of the roles of parents in early child development is to better understand ICT and how it can affect the development of the child.

She said that early education of the child on how ICT can affect  him/her negatively is very important since it would protect the child from peer pressure in order not to deny them of the roles of ICT in their educational development.

According to her, “something positive usually happens to the performance of pupils who make high use of ICT in their learning process. Standards and quality are positively enhanced with schools using ICT resources regardless of their socio-economic classifications.”

She said, “ICT generally motivates children to learn. Therefore achieving positive impact on learning and development using ICT depends to a large extent on how it is deployed and used”.

Adeyemo said that several ICT devices like mobile phones and platforms like the internet, video games as well as the television all play significant roles in the learning process and development of the if they are not inappropriately and excessively use.

She stated that interference by friends and relatives, and the influence of advertising and commercialism through unsolicited commercial text messages could affect the child’s development negatively.

In a case study she reviewed the importance of ICT to the development of a child, she said that parents should not dismissed the request of a child for a mobile device adding that indeed should be an opportunity to educate the child on the use of the device and why he needs it.

While advising parents not out rightly denying the child use of even more expensive mobile device like the iphone, that comes with applications that can distract a child, she said that parents should set rules regarding period of usage, and even decided if the child is old enough to manage the phone.

She stated that if parents do not have fore knowledge of its use, understand the implications; they will not be able to protect the child stressing “parents especially mothers need to encourage the child to establish boundaries between phone use and other activities like study, sleep, meals etc.  It will be needful to discuss together what priority mobile phone use should take”.

She further stressed that parents should instruct their wades not to make calls that are not urgent, put aside a certain part of the day for sending and replying SMS text message, switch off phones when involved in something to avoid being disturbed saying that “If your child imbibed this etiquette, he/she will know in future where and when to make or not make calls.”

On the great potentials of the internet, she said, “It is worthy to emphasise that despite the negative use of this medium by miss-fits, the internet is still very useful for positive and profitable activities by children. Parents have to be realistic to note that holding back the spread of internet use among children is practically impossible.  “As a parent, one might be tempted to want to deny the child access to the internet as a means of punishment, especially those who are not convinced of its advantages. Regardless of our views, we need to keep in mind the many useful things that can benefit the child’s growth on the internet, “she said. 

Adeyemo advised parents not to disconnect the internet service of their child saying that it may be depriving them of these possibilities saying however that parents should allow a child unrestrained access to the internet with some control and monitoring to prevent sometimes distracts the child from his studies and other commitments.

 “If you deny access to your child, while all his friends are still using the internet, he might resort to finding alternative ways to surf-far from your sight and supervision.

Establish from the beginning that using the net requires a level of maturity.  If your child uses the internet inappropriately, you may need to set some restrictions”, she stressed.

While speaking on the subject, Nollywood as a game Changer, a professor of technology at Georgia Institute of Technology, USA, Mr. Michael Best said that movies have the potentials of moulding the character of the child if they watch films that are not decent.

According to him, movies can be used portray how technology can enhance good moral values in the child and develop them saying very most movies portray use technology in the wrong way.

Head of Special Institute Division at the International Telecommunications Union,(ITU), Mrs. Susan Schorr who spoke on Girls in ICT: Bridging the Digital Divide said that the ITU is passionate about encouraging more girl child in ICT education saying that the ITU has over 500 programmes that are targeted at girl child ICT education.

Nigerian Youths to Benefit from Microsoft Empowerment Project

L-R:Business Development Director,Mr Stanley Muoneke,Country Manager,Olubunmi Ekundare, Channel Development manager,Robinson Babatunde,all of Intel Corporation Nigeria at the launch of 'Create Your Tomorrow' campaign  in Lagos.

NIGERIAN youths are among the 300 million youths from 100 countries across the world that will benefit from the Microsoft YouthSpark, a new company wide initiative to create opportunities for youth through a range of global programs, delivered in partnership with governments, nonprofits and other businesses.

The company’s youth-focused philanthropy will be conducted in collaboration with non-profits group around the world such as GlobalGiving Foundation, TakingITGlobal, Telecentre.org Foundation and the International Youth Foundation, as well as regional nonprofits such as Silatech in the Middle East, The Trust for Americas in Latin America, AIESEC International in Europe, and the ASEAN Foundation in Asia.

Youths in Nigeria would benefit from the program through the Youth Empowerment Program (YEP), an initiative of Microsoft and the International Youth Foundation (IYF) that from 2007 to 2010 provided young people in Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal and Tanzania with training in life skills, employability and entrepreneurship as well as hands-on experience through internships. 

Microsoft Chief Executive Officer, Steve Ballmer while launching the project said the companywide initiative includes citizenship and other company programs both new and enhanced that will empower youth to imagine and realise their full potential by connecting them with greater opportunities for education, employment and entrepreneurship.

He said through the Microsoft YouthSpark, the company will dedicate the majority of its cash contributions to nonprofits that serve the youth population around the world.

He added that the three-year Microsoft YouthSpark program would include Office 365 for education, free technology tools for all teachers and students to power learning and collaboration, and Skype in the classroom, a free global community for teachers to connect their students with others around the world.

He stated that as part of the initiative, Microsoft is also launching a range of new citizenship programs, which include giving for youth, a global micro-giving marketplace focused on raising funds for nonprofits that support youth causes around the world.

It also include the Microsoft YouthSpark Hub, an online space where people can explore and access all the youth services, programs and resources provided by Microsoft and its non-profit partners and the Microsoft Innovate for Good, a global online community enabling youth to collaborate, inspire and support each other while using technology to make a difference in their communities.

“Through Microsoft YouthSpark we are making a commitment to help 300 million young people around the world achieve their dreams by focusing our citizenship efforts and other company resources on connecting young people with opportunities for education, employment and entrepreneurship.

“We believe that working with our partners we can help empower young people to change their world, and we are committed to using our technology, talent, time and resources to do that,“ he said.

Executive vice president, Microsoft Brad Smith, said, “The global unemployment rate for workers under age 25 is 12.7 percent, which is double the rate for the world as a whole. This is indicative of a growing opportunity divide between young people who have the access, skills and opportunities to be successful and those who do not. We must work together to close the opportunity divide for youth and help secure the future of this generation and the future of our global economy.”

According to him, the International Youth Foundation Opportunity for Action report, published in March 2012, showed that nearly 75 million young people worldwide were unemployed in 2011 noting that as the global youth population continues to grow there are more than 2.2 billion people between the ages of 6 and 24 today the opportunity divide is widening.

He stated that the Microsoft YouthSpark goes beyond philanthropy stressing that it brings together a range of global programs that empower young people with access to technology and a better education and inspire young people to imagine the opportunities they have to realise their potential, including previously mentioned Office 365 for education and Skype in the classroom.

Other programs are Partners in Learning, Microsoft IT Academy, DreamSpark, Imagine Cup, Students to Business and BizSpark.