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‘DreamSpark’ for students

Staff Reporter

Up to 35 million students will benefit

NEW DELHI: Providing students access to technical software, Microsoft has unveiled ‘DreamSpark,’ a software giveaway for over 10 million qualified students in the country.

DreamSpark will give students access to the latest Microsoft developer and designer tools at no charge to “unlock” their creative potential.

Launching the project at the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, Microsoft Corp Chairman Bill Gates said: “We want to do everything we can to equip the new generation of technology leaders with the knowledge and tools they need to harness the magic of software to improve lives, solve problems and catalyse economic growth.”

“Microsoft DreamSpark provides professional level tools that we hope will inspire students like you to explore the power of software and encourage you to forge the next wave of software-driven breakthroughs,” he told the students. The software will be available online on www.dreamsparkindia.com and in offline format through DVDs distributed by programme partners NIIT, Aptech and Hughes Net Fusion Centres.

The project was announced by Mr. Gates in Februaryat Stanford University. It is estimated that up to 35 million students will be able to access these software titles free of charge through this programme.

Union Minister of State for Human Resource Development D. Purandeswari said though both India and China were of special interest to Microsoft owing to their market potential, India was unique because of other reasons.

Special importance

“India has one additional reason for special importance, which China does not have at present, and that is the largest pool of English speaking software professionals with strong mathematical and logical skills in the country.”

The Minister said Microsoft would provide the link to DreamSpark website from Sakshat portal.

Interested students who intend to get the software will be provided a live ID from the portal, she added.

Mr. Gates also spoke on how to use technology to improve lives.

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