Education and Training News Sun Microsystems Joins the ICT Academies Promoted by UMIC in the Higher Education System Sun Microsystems Joins the ICT Academies Promoted by UMIC in the Higher Education System
- 17/05/2009Sun Microsystems Portugal and Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC) signed a Cooperation protocol on 18th May 2009, at the Instituto Superior Técnico (IST)’s Taguspark Campus to implement the ICT Academies collaboration scheme launched by the Memorandum of Understanding signed by the Government and Sun Microsystems in February 2009.
The protocol was signed by the President of UMIC, Luis Magalhães, and by the Director-General of Sun Microsystems in Portugal, Jorge Salamanca, at a ceremony attended by Javier Otero, Director of Sun Learning Services for Portugal and Spain, which took place at the end of a dissemination session for IST students and professors at Taguspark as part of the Sun Academic Initiative (SAI), which, as foreseen under the aforementioned Memorandum of Understanding, involves providing free web-based courses for the entire educational and training community.
This newly-signed protocol targets the promotion of professional qualifications for Sun technology by:
- Developing the Sun Microsystems Academic Programme in the higher education system in Portugal.
- Contributing to the country’s technological development and to qualify its human resources, bolstering Portugal’s economic competitiveness.
- Boosting the employability of human resources with certified professional training in ICT.
- Involving the higher education system in training and certifying professional ICT competences for the labour market, by joining up with the needs of the business community.
In this context, Sun Microsystems will actively support UMIC in developing ICT Academies, promoting the supply of Sun Microsystems training in higher education institutions, namely polytechnics and universities, as part of the network of ICT Academies involving similar initiatives with other enterprises.
Given this backdrop, Sun Microsystems will allow free access to higher education institutions that join the ICT Academies initiative, and to their professors and students, to all web courses included in the Sun Academic Initiative (SAI) training programme, which includes online training in technologies developed by Sun.
Sun has been staging the Sun Open Learning Roadshow in various higher education institutions to promote the Sun Academic Initiative in Portugal, which was foreseen in the Memorandum of Understanding signed by the Government and Sun Microsystems. The following sessions have been held thus far:
| Date | Location | Body |
|---|---|---|
| 22nd Apr 2009 | Engineering Department | U. de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro |
| 5th May 2009 | Faculty of Science | U. de Lisboa |
| 6th May 2009 | I.T. Department | U. do Minho |
| 11th May 2009 | Instituto Superior de Eng. de Lisboa | I.P. de Lisboa |
| 13th May 2009 | Faculty of Engineering | U. do Porto |
| 14th May 2009 | Faculty of Science and Technology | U. de Coimbra |
| 14th May 2009 | Faculty of Science and Technology | U. Nova de Lisboa |
| 18th May 2009 | Instituto Superior Técnico , Taguspark | U. Técnica de Lisboa |
| 21st May 2009 | Instituto Superior Técnico, Alameda | U. Técnica de Lisboa |
| 27th May 2009 | Dept. of Elect., Telecomm. and I.T. | U. de Aveiro |
| 1st Jun 2009 | Faculty of Engineering | U. Católica Portuguesa |
The students and professors of higher education institutions that join the ICT Academies initiative will be able to sit certification exams for Java and Solaris technologies for an indicative cost of 60 Euros, and Sun undertakes to organise courses for teaching staff from higher education institutions to attend at reduced and tailored costs for each case.
For Jorge Salamanca, Director-General of Sun Microsystems “the importance of innovation and qualification of human resources as means for enabling the economic growth of a country like Portugal is one of the major goals of Sun Microsystems Portugal, and that is why we intend to support the Portuguese Government in implementing the Technological Plan so as to boost productivity, competitiveness and growth of our country”. Jorge Salamanca concluded that “This is also an excellent opportunity for enterprises to train executives who can master the technologies that are at the vanguard of the global economy”.
Professor Luis Magalhães, President of UMIC, underscored that “Sun Microsystems joining UMIC’s ICT Academies in the higher education system initiative has broadened the training and professional certification opportunities in polytechnic institutes and universities in competences of major interest. Stronger ties between higher education institutions and the business community and more employable trainees are the obvious benefits of this initiative".