Microsoft Fuels European E-Skills and E-Inclusion
Despite the global financial crisis and the perspective of lower revenues, software giant Microsoft is still committing 5 million Euros for diversity and sustainability. The company revealed that both financial and software resources would be delivered to non-governmental organizations (NGOs) across Europe, which would be focused on community skills training projects. “A skilled IT workforce is essential to creating new jobs and fuelling economic growth in Europe, yet almost 300 million Europeans have no e-skills today. We hope to bridge this gap by investing into community-based projects to further advance e-inclusion in Europe,” revealed Jan Muehlfeit, Microsoft Europe chairman. NGOs in no less than 30 countries across Europe will benefit from the 5 million Euros from Microsoft, which will ultimately serve to “e-ducate” people with disabilities, seniors and young unemployed persons. The company emphasized the need to fill the deficit of e-inclusion and e-skills in the EU. Microsoft Unlimited Potential Community Technology Skills Program, in collaboration with NGOs and also with other members of the industry will manage to deliver, via over 3,000 Community Technology Centers spread across Europe, a chance to an estimated 4.7 million people over the course of the next three years.
