Microsoft launches DreamSpark

New Delhi: Microsoft India unveiled DreamSpark-a software giveaway for an estimated 10 million plus qualified students in the country. DreamSpark will provide students access to the latest Microsoft developer and designer tools at no charge. The program is aligned to Microsoft Unlimited Potential, the company's global effort to creating sustained social and economic opportunity for everyone.

Addressing students and academicians at IIT Delhi, Bill Gates, Chairman, Microsoft said, “We want to do everything we can to equip a new generation of technology leaders with the knowledge and tools they need to harness the magic of software to improve lives, solve problems and catalyze economic growth. Microsoft DreamSpark provides professional-level tools that we hope will inspire students to explore the power of software and encourage then forge the next wave of software-driven breakthroughs.”

Microsoft DreamSpark is available to all students whose studies touch on technology, design, math, science and engineering; as well as technology hobbyists keen on pursuing a career in the field. Worldwide, several million people use the software suite that will now be available free of charge.

The professional level software will be available both online on www.dreamsparkindia.com and in offline format via DVDs distributed by program partners NIIT, Aptech and Hughes Net Fusion Centers. A student merely needs to offer a proof of identity at a branch of these institutes to avail of a DreamSpark DVD. There are 125 NIIT, 175 Aptech, and 200 Hughes Net Fusion Centers participating across the country.

These program partners will also provide technology training on the DreamSpark software tools at a nominal cost; as well as have the option of soft skills training in languages like English and Hindi. Microsoft India is also working with academic institutions, government bodies and student organizations across the country to ensure that all students get a chance to benefit from DreamSpark. The DreamSpark initiative in India is designed to join the dots between software access, which means making training and enablement complement simple access to technology.

Summing up the initiative, Ravi Venkatesan, Chairman, Microsoft India, said, “Education is a crucial focus area for India — and it is the level of investment we put in education today that will shape the economic development and future of the country. It is imperative that we do everything to endow our new age leaders with state of art technology, and the capability to utilize it.”