ARMONK, N.Y., July
22, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- IBM (NYSE: IBM) is introducing a new
commitment to enable the next generation of developers with the
Academic Initiative for Cloud, aimed to mentor and energize them to
innovate using IBM Cloud technologies. The new program will create
cloud development curricula using Bluemix, IBM's
platform-as-a-service, in over 200 universities, reaching more than
20,000 students in 36 countries.
Additionally announced today, is a series of industry Hackathons
reaching tens of thousands of new developers and a set of diversity
programs for women coders, all based on Bluemix, aimed at creating
innovative hands-on experiences that propel radical ideas and
innovation in cloud application development.
By making the use of Bluemix available to these programs, IBM
will help arm the developers of tomorrow with the latest
capabilities and foster the necessary skills to join the workforce
and create enterprise-class cloud applications at consumer scale.
The developer-friendly, open-standards-based Bluemix catalog
includes over 100 tools and services of the most prominent
open-source technologies combined with IBM and third-party services
like Watson, Internet of Things,
Big Data & Analytics, and Mobile,
among many others.
"Putting Bluemix in the hands of today's and tomorrow's
innovators creates the opportunity to foster a new generation of
talent in cloud application development," said IBM General Manager
for Cloud Ecosystem and Developers, Sandy
Carter. "Our commitment to provide deep cloud expertise to
programs aimed at future cloud developers from academics to
professionals is necessary to sustain the growth our industry
forecasts."
Introducing the Academic Initiative for Cloud
IBM's
new Academic Initiative for Cloud will introduce students to the
latest cloud technologies and solutions as they build the
transferrable skills needed to launch their own businesses or
become industry leaders in the workforce. This new program
continues IBM's leadership and commitment to closing the skills gap
between higher education curricula and workforce needs, which
already includes Big Data Analytics and Cognitive Computing
academic programs.
Starting this fall, universities around the world will commence
more than 250 courses and programs that will utilize educational
materials, technologies and methodologies from IBM with a focus on
using Bluemix in a variety of courses ranging from computer
science, information technology, analytics and data science to
mobile and entrepreneurship. The list of over 210 marquee
institutions includes:
- Ben-Gurion University (Israel)
- Carnegie Mellon University
- Imperial College of Science (England)
- International Institute of Information Technology (India)
- National College of Ireland
- National University of
Singapore
- Northwestern University
- University of California
Irvine
- University of Cambridge
- University of Southern
California
- University of Stuttgart
- University of Tokyo
The use of Bluemix in the classroom will allow faculty to extend
their teaching beyond theory and into practice. Enabling faculty to
bring new hands-on experiences around cloud application development
into their curricula, and not rely simply on lectures or demos of
cognitive capabilities such as Watson Analytics or Internet of
Things applications, but rather actually put these technologies
into the hands of students.
Faculty members will receive 12 months of access to the Bluemix
trial for themselves as well as up to six months access for
students in their program. Both faculty and student accounts are
renewable and do not require a credit card.
"Leaders in business and higher education must come together to
foster a new generation of digital-savvy talent," said Kevin Werbach, a professor and expert on
gamification at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. "It's great that IBM is
so committed to connecting with top universities like ours, and to
giving students and faculty exposure to the latest cloud
technologies and business concepts. This experience will help
prepare our students as they enter the marketplace."
Additionally, IBM is launching a new Student Developer Community
that helps students get started on their journey of cloud
education, and provides quick access to learning resources and
information on how students can join Bluemix U, where students can
showcase their accomplishments and the impact of their real-world
projects.
Supporting Girls Who Code and ReBoot Accelerator to Diversify
the Tech Talent Pipeline
Diversity drives innovation. With
only 14% of computer science graduates being women today, down from
37% in 1984, IBM is committed to innovation-driven cloud
development by supporting programs that empower women in technology
and address the lack of women in technology professions.
As such, IBM is working with Girls Who Code to introduce the
next generation of women developers to cloud innovation by hosting
a class of female high-school students in New York City for a seven-week summer
immersion program. For 2016, IBM has committed to further expand
its relationship with the organization to support additional
programs in San Francisco,
Los Angeles and Austin, alongside continued support for the
New York City summer immersion
program.
IBM is also announcing a new collaboration with GSVlabs on the
ReBoot Accelerator for Women, a program designed to help women
become current, connected, and confident as they return to work
after a multi-year sabbatical. IBM will host several instructional
sessions that will focus on cloud development using Bluemix, aimed
at demystifying coding and making it more approachable. IBM will
also be providing mentorship and assistance with job placement
strategies in hopes of attracting more women back to the workplace,
including at IBM.
Expanding Enterprise Hackathons around the
world
Hackathons have become the key way for individuals to
use the latest cloud technologies, collaborate with peers and
ultimately get real-world experiences that translate into
innovation for the enterprise. As such, IBM has sponsored 25 of the
AngelHack hackathons in the Eighth Global Hackathon Series, a
series that will reach 10,000 developers, designers
and entrepreneurs, connecting the world's most vibrant
communities of code creators to drive open innovation for products,
platforms and brands. These events will showcase how Bluemix and
Watson technologies are impacting
various industries, including healthcare, travel, food and
emergency responsiveness.
IBM is working closely to create programs for developers to help
them transform industry and enterprise, including Cloud-based open
source technology, industry hackathons, and developer training
programs. Learn more at developer.ibm.com/start.
Alexander Aizenberg
IBM Communications
Phone: 212-671-9616
aizenberg@us.ibm.com
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SOURCE IBM