The St. Petersburg State University and the Microsoft Russia company signed a strategic agreement on cooperation. Microsoft will be actively selling its software to the University and finance the teaching of students and lecturers to use Microsoft products. The agreement is aimed at the development of Microsoft’s education programme, Microsoft Education Allience in 2007-2009. The University will see a considerable progress in using information technologies. The agreement was signed by University’s Vice Principal Ilya Dementyev and Microsoft Russia Head Olga Dergunova.

Mr. Dementyev said apart from boosting education quality the University plans to develop the technical base, upgrade and acquire new software from Microsoft. There are some 38 thousand students at the University and 5,5 thousand computers for all of them. Mr. Dementyev announced earlier it had bought software at 10mln rubles ($384 thousand) from Microsoft.

Two weeks ago an agreement was signed between Microsoft and the University’s Information Technologies R&D center to create the Microsoft Innovation Center. The Center will open in April 2007. IT development works will be conducted at the Center, it will also be providing information on Microsoft products. In 2006 Microsoft opened a similar center at St. Petersburg Polytechnic University’s Technique Cybernetics Faculty.

News source: eng.cnews.ru
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