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Microsoft launches initiative to help 25 million people worldwide acquire the digital skills needed in a COVID-19 economy

SMITH, Brad
June 2020

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Around the world, 2020 has emerged as one of the most challenging years in many of our lifetimes. In six months, the world has endured multiple challenges, including a pandemic that has spurred a global economic crisis. As societies reopen, it’s apparent that the economy in July will not be what it was in January. Increasingly, one of the key steps needed to foster a safe and successful economic recovery is expanded access to the digital skills needed to fill new jobs. And one of the keys to a genuinely inclusive recovery are programs to provide easier access to digital skills for people hardest hit by job losses, including those with lower incomes, women, and underrepresented minorities.

To help address this need, today Microsoft is launching a global skills initiative aimed at bringing more digital skills to 25 million people worldwide by the end of the year. This initiative will bring together every part of our company, combining existing and new resources from LinkedIn, GitHub, and Microsoft. It will be grounded in three areas of activity:

(1) The use of data to identify in-demand jobs and the skills needed to fill them;

(2) Free access to learning paths and content to help people develop the skills these positions require;

(3) Low-cost certifications and free job-seeking tools to help people who develop these skills pursue new jobs.

Open Source in Africa : towards informed decision-making

BRUGGINK, Martin
August 2003

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Open Source solutions became a real alternative in western and northern countries as well as in Asian countries. In Africa, Open Source initiatives have not yet been discussed thoroughly. This brief summarizes research carried out in Tanzania, Uganda and Burkina Faso, asking how and if Open Source is used

Image Bank

Leeds & York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust

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The NHS have produced an ‘easy on the i’ information design service within the Learning Disability Service at Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust. A repository of images has been created to help support the creation of easy to read documents.

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