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HP has long held the belief that investing in the future, and in particular in education, is the key to developing the next generation of high-tech innovators and entrepreneurs. That’s why HP’s Social Investment Strategy focuses on two main areas: Innovation in Education and Entrepreneurship in Education.
Our feature this month looks at how HP supports innovative teaching and learning practices and highlights the achievements in our various social investment progammes.
Innovation in Education
Throughout Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), HP has been working closely with schools and universities to bring the benefits of technology to the classroom. By stimulating innovative teaching, especially in the fields of science, mathematics, technology and business, not only can we help educational institutions achieve greater success, but we can also help them to foster prospective leaders who will be vital to our business in the future.
HP Innovation in Education Grant Initiative
HP’s main programme focusing on Innovation in Education is the HP Innovation in Education Grant Initiative. This programme supports secondary schools and universities throughout EMEA which are able to launch innovative pilot initiatives for administrators and teachers responsible for student success in mathematics and science.
At the end of May, HP announced the winners of the 2009 HP Innovation in Education Grant Initiative and no fewer than 50 schools and universities from 15 countries across EMEA were selected to receive an Innovation in Education grant. The grant comprises a mobile technology solution, including tablet PCs, laptops, printers and access points, as well as a cash donation of approximately US$100,000 (€75,500). The winners are also invited to join a network of educators around the world who work together to design the future of high tech education. Through the network, they share ideas and best practices in areas such as online learning, virtual worlds and simulations.
Brain Gain Initiative with UNESCO
African and Middle Eastern countries have been struggling to compensate for the exodus of students, academics and professionals who feel they can benefit from their qualifications and expertise elsewhere in the world. This exodus is commonly known as Brain Drain and HP has been working closely with UNESCO to reverse this effect and to create, instead, Brain Gain.
Using grid and cloud computing technology, HP and UNESCO are connecting universities in Africa and the Middle East to global research networks, thus enabling university students and professionals to pursue their careers in their own country. The technology also enables scientists to be connected to international peers, academic networks and funding opportunities.
HP and UNESCO first started working on this initiative six years ago, with a successful pilot project in South East Europe. Then, in 2007, HP extended the project to universities in Africa, focusing on Algeria, Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal and Zimbabwe. This year, the programme will be expanded to reach even more higher education institutions in Africa and the Middle East.
HP International Institute of Technology
HP’s International Institute of Technology (IIT) is another initiative created by HP that focuses on highly qualified academics and it is responsible for educating a new generation of IT specialists.
Initially created for Russia, the initiative has expanded fast and HP experts and university professors from 22 universities in Russia and Eastern and Central Europe are now working together to bring IT training to a new level by helping students become highly qualified IT professionals.
The initiative includes the creation of Innovative Technology Centres, which offer interactive courses that deal with practical IT-related business challenges such as software, IT management and printing technology. To date, more than 1,500 students have studied at the IT centres.
Entrepreneurship Education
Knowledge and tools are the driving force for economic development in every region of the world. HP aims to foster entrepreneurial development by delivering resources and technology solutions where they are most needed.
In order to provide that support, HP works closely with non-profit organisations, educational institutions and communities to help foster entrepreneurial development through innovative use of technology. HP also works with local partners in underserved communities to offer training for under or unemployed youth and very small businesses.
HP has two Entrepreneurship Education programmes: Graduate Entrepreneurship Training through IT (GET-IT) and Junior Achievement Young Enterprise.
GET-IT
HP’s GET-IT training programme helps young under or unemployed people and graduates aged 16-25 to acquire the basic business and IT skills that will enable them to enter professional life or start their own business. To date, HP and its collaborative partners have created nearly 100 GET-IT training centres in 30 countries across EMEA, reaching more than 43,000 people through online and offline training courses. Plans are in place to reach more than 500,000 people by the end of 2010.
Last month, HP was pleased to announce that an additional 20 GET-IT training centres had been opened in Algeria, Egypt, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates. This figure more than doubles the GET-IT community in Africa and the Middle East.
Also in June, HP together with World ORT in Russia announced the expansion of HP’s GET-IT training programme with ten new training centres opening up in Russia and the Ukraine. This expansion brings the total number of centres in five Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries (Russia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Kazakhstan) to 32.
HP is also organising a GET-IT conference which will be held in Cairo in October. Representatives from all of HP’s GET-IT centres are being invited, as well as members of HP’s collaborative partners UNIDO and MEA-I. The theme of the conference is ‘Immersive Learning’ and the conference will be the perfect opportunity for delegates to come together to share best practice and expertise.
JA-YE
HP has been working with Junior Achievement-Young Enterprise (JA-YE) since 1996. In fact, HP and JA-YE collaborate to work on enterprise education programmes in schools and at special events in no fewer than 28 countries throughout Europe.
For the past three years, HP and JA-YE have run the HP Responsible Business Competition, which challenges secondary school students to consider social and environmental responsibility when developing business plans and building student enterprises.
As part of the Responsible Business Competition, many HP employees volunteered their time to visit schools to offer students advice on how to integrate social and environmental responsibility into their mini-enterprises. The feedback from both students and HP volunteers was very positive. The students valued the insight into how a large multinational corporation works and HP employees were impressed by the professionalism and drive that the students demonstrated in running their own businesses.
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