Microsoft launches its Digital Literacy Curriculum in the Gulf

Ali Faramawy, Vice-President, Microsoft International, introduced the initiative, aimed at empowering people throughout the region with access to IT skills that enable them to reach their digital potential, at the New Arab Women's Forum held in Dubai today.

Microsoft Digital Literacy offers a wide range of critical ICT literacy skills and is available to anyone within Microsoft programmes and initiatives - man or woman, child or adult - free of charge. It consists of five flexible courses hosted through an online training interface. The courses include:
• Computer Basics
• The Internet and World Wide Web
• Productivity Programmes
• Computer Security and Privacy
• Digital lifestyles

For those with little or no Internet access the course can be provided on a CD on demand and all graduates of the course receive a certificate confirming their digitally literate status. The course is available in English from today and will be launched in Arabic in the coming weeks.

"We live in a world that is now driven by information technology. Many countries in the Gulf have identified the development of a digital literate society as a primary economic driver; people with ICT skills are better prepared to succeed in today's environment and employers increasingly expect candidates to have these skills," explained Ali Faramawy, Vice-President, Microsoft International.

"The ever-increasing presence of computing has transformed many of our daily functions and at Microsoft we are committed to empowering people in the new digital world and enabling them with skills to reach their potential."

To achieve its aim of increasing the number and type of those who are ICT literate across the region, Microsoft plans to embed the Microsoft Digital Literacy curriculum in a broad variety of locally-driven initiatives, creating more localized versions of the curriculum, and collaborating with local programs. In this way Microsoft Digital Literacy will become even more relevant and vibrant on a local level in various Arab countries, particularly during an emerging and expanding market in Gulf.

"Microsoft Digital Literacy is designed to be the first step in a lifelong journey," commented Charbel Fakhoury, Gulf General Manager, Microsoft. "ICT learning programs need to connect learners to the next steps in learning opportunities. At Microsoft, we are aiming to establish connections between Microsoft Digital Literacy learners and appropriate Microsoft-friendly next steps learning programs likeMicrosoft IT Academy and Partners in Learning (PiL) and with commercial training as appropriate. This will create a learning migration path that will enable skills development for increasingly technical careers an esnure continued growth and development."

The launch comes in additon to a number of citizenship initiatives running across the Gulf. So far in 2007 Microsoft Gulf has spent approximatel three million AED on citizenship programmes with 12 ongoing programmes. "Our commitment to empowering and enabling people in the Gulf has always been paramount in our plans in the region. The launch of Microsoft Digitial Literacy however gives us the ability to reach and effect the lives of every single person in the Gulf, taking our contribution to a new level," concluded Dr. Zaki Khoury, Gulf Citizenship Lead, Microsoft.