Unlimited Potential World Updates

For me, one of the most exciting things about working with students is seeing their passion and absolute belief that one person can, in fact, change the world.  At Microsoft, we want to do whatever we can to encourage that optimism, and to help students use their technical skills in ways that can help make the world a better place.  That’s the goal of our annual student technology competition, the Imagine Cup. 

I’m writing this from Seoul, Korea, where we’ve just concluded the 2007 Imagine Cup finals, the culmination of a nine-month long program in which university students from virtually every country in the world have had the chance to use the power of software to develop a solution addressing one of the most pressing challenges of our day.  Our theme, “Imagine a world where technology enables a better education for all,” gave our students a unique opportunity— to think about the education challenges in their own countries, and to take the future into their own hands by creating solutions that can bring about lasting change.

Since its beginning in 2003, the Imagine Cup has been a gathering place for some of the world’s greatest young minds, and the technology showcased has truly reflected the caliber of the competition.  This year is no exception.  Teams have worked together to develop cutting-edge technologies that help extend learning outside the classroom, that promote collaboration among teachers and students, and that have the potential to make education accessible to far greater numbers of people around the world, regardless of their social or economic situations.   

But inasmuch as the Imagine Cup is a premiere technology showcase, its impact goes far beyond the technology itself.  Archit Jain, a fourth-year student from Dhirubhai Ambani Institute of Information and Communication Technology in India, told us how meeting the other teams and judges in Seoul this week has helped expand his vision of how technology can help the people of his home country.  His dream is to see “the power of technology made accessible to the masses” and he plans to research how low-cost computing materials can help make this dream possible.   

I celebrate Archit’s vision.  It’s an exciting time, and we’re only at the beginning of what computer science can offer the world.  It gives me great hope to see the future of computing in students like Archit, and deep satisfaction to know that Microsoft and the Imagine Cup have played even a small part in their life and work. 

There have been some amazing moments this week at the Imagine Cup. The highs and lows of competition, the lasting friendships that have been made, and the incredible potential of the ideas presented here have left me with a true sense of optimism for what these future leaders can achieve.

Six teams will go on to formal business and technology training early next year.  Others will pursue commercializing their software applications with the help of their schools, their mentors and resources available through their communities. Others will return to their studies, with indelible memories of their amazing week at the Imagine Cup.  We hope most of them will also begin planning their entry for next year’s Imagine Cup.

Next stop is France for Imagine Cup 2008. The theme is, “Imagine a world where technology can create a sustainable environment.”  I can’t wait to see what these young minds come up with.

Namaste!

S. Somasegar is the corporate vice president of the Developer Division at Microsoft Corporation.

While India is progressing in leaps and bounds in cyberspace, on the ground, the realities of a third-world country are immediately evident.  Outside the major metropolitan areas, basic infrastructure such as roads, water and schools leave a lot to be desired.  At Brilliant, our vision of education is to empower students by providing them with the life skills they need to be intelligent, innovative and productive adults, regardless of which corner of the country they live in.  When we started over 35 years ago, we reached students through their local mailman, using the postal system to distribute our teaching material. 

Today, we see the role of technology as an equalizer, helping students have access to the best teaching and material available, even when they live in remote areas where schools and teachers are often lacking.  Microsoft’s Unlimited Potential shares our vision, and we are excited at the prospect of working together to improve education in India.  Our initial endeavour is aimed at providing students with access to online question banks to test their skills as they prepare for competitive entrance exams to get in to the top universities in the country.  Following that, we will be providing our education material to students online, thereby greatly expanding their access to world-class education.  In collaboration with Microsoft, we at Brilliant look forward to the opportunity to provide students with affordable education, enabling them to better participate in and contribute to the rapidly growing global economy.

- Vasanti Neelakantan, managing director, Brilliant Tutorials

I am pleased to be joining you again from the road—this week, I am in India to support our ongoing efforts to extend the power of technology to the world’s underserved populations.  India’s uneven economic and social balance, with over 98% of the population living at the middle and base of the economic pyramid, represents an urgent and substantial call to action in our work towards realizing this goal. 

As a nation, India has made great strides competitively and economically in recent years.   Its success has placed it in an excellent position to lessen the economic imbalance and bring better livelihoods and increased social and economic opportunities to those at the base of the pyramid.  I believe that this is a critical time for India—a time when the right choices, the right level of commitment, and the right partnerships can make a lasting difference and help transform the nation, bringing new possibilities to people that desperately need it today. 

Through Microsoft Unlimited Potential, we are continuing our work in India to enable sustained social and economic growth through relevant programs and products that are accessible to everyone. Affordability is also a critical component but it is important to understand this goes far beyond low-cost hardware. Affordable solutions must account for individual needs and means, and use creative ways to deliver technology, through different devices, access models and financing options.

One of the most fundamental areas in which technology can be applied to enable this growth is within education—the core element for sustained social and economic inclusion. India faces a serious challenge in providing quality education, a critical factor in ensuring that children begin with a fair level of opportunity.  If applied correctly, technology holds great potential to meet this challenge. 

We are deeply committed to transforming access to quality education in India, and have already made great progress.  Project Shiksha, made possible through our Partners in Learning program, aims to accelerate IT literacy for over 200,000 teachers and 10 million students across schools in India over the next 5 years.  To date, we have already trained 100,000 teachers and impacted 5 million students across the country. 

And today, at a press conference in Delhi, Ravi Venkatesan, chairman of Microsoft India, and I announced that Microsoft will be scaling up existing programs and enabling greater access in India through a ‘connected learning framework’ of software and services called IQ. As part of this effort, we are kicking off a pilot program with AMD in Bangalore and Pune for the IQ PC, a low cost computer that includes Windows, Office / Works, Encarta, and Student 2007 along with specialized education solutions from a host of key partners. We also introduced the MSN IQ Education Channel, an online repository of educational content, online tutoring, competitive exam coaching and specialized editorial content from leading authorities. The IQ framework is exciting because it combines online and offline solutions with content tied directly to each stage of a student’s learning process and growth.

And finally, a point I stressed a couple weeks ago in Burkina Faso: we cannot do this alone. Microsoft is catalyzing a network of industry, government and development leaders to form and strengthen partnerships at the local, regional and global level that create the scale necessary to achieve the goals of Unlimited Potential.

The IQ offerings, for example, are supported and extended by numerous partners with extensive experience and understanding of both education and the India market. In addition to AMD, we’re working closely with Brilliant Tutorials, Junior Achievement, Pacsoft, Karadi Tales, Gurujiworld, Edurite and TutorVista. You will hear quite a bit more about these and other partnerships Microsoft is forging here in India to deliver truly innovative solutions.  

Ultimately, while any nation can work to enable quality education for all ages, for this to be meaningful to those unable to provide for their most basic needs, these efforts must translate to a single critical goal: creating economic opportunity.  By doing so, we can help to ensure that the rich human potential of every person—throughout India and the world—is able to be realized. 

-Orlando Ayala, Senior Vice President, Emerging Segments Market Development Group, Microsoft