MICROSOFT DONATES DEVELOPER SOFTWARE
TO THE NATIONAL SOCIETY OF BLACK ENGINEERS
~ AGates discusses
the future of Information Technology at the NSBE Region
VI Fall Regional Conference ~
November 2007
On Friday, November 16, Bill
Gates, chairman of Microsoft Corp., announced that Microsoft
will donate developer software to all National Society
of Black Engineers (NSBE) educational chapters in the
United States. This announcement was made during Gates'
keynote speech at the NSBE Region VI Fall Regional Conference,
sponsored by Microsoft.
This software grant provides
NSBE educational chapters with a three-year membership
subscription to the Microsoft Developer Network Academic
Alliance. Through these memberships, faculty and student
NSBE chapter members will have access to more than 100
Microsoft software products. Key software includes development
and design tools such as Microsoft Visual Studio and
Microsoft Expression; client and server operating system
platforms such as Microsoft Windows Server and Windows
Vista; and platform servers such as Microsoft SQL Server.
Also during his keynote address,
Gates spoke about the opportunities for African-American
students entering U.S. engineering careers and the importance
of diversity in the technology field. This grant, he
said, is part of Microsoft's overall efforts to provide
minorities with the tools necessary to be the IT leaders
of tomorrow.
NSBE and its members have
long recognized the company's diversity efforts. Microsoft
was recently named NSBE's Most Preferred Employer. NSBE
praised Microsoft for its career advancement opportunities,
job security, work/life balance, interesting work and
availability of internships.
Microsoft is working on many
fronts to change the face of IT, and has worked with
various multicultural organizations to create initiatives
and provide funding for programs to further diversify
the IT field. Included among these organizations are
NSBE, the National Urban League, Society of Hispanic
Professional Engineers, Society of Women Engineers,
the Boys and Girls Club and the National Center for
Women and Information Technology.
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