US tech giant Oracle has committed to invest $1.4bn to support computer science (CS) education in the European Union (EU).
The three-year investment will provide direct and in-kind support of CS education across the EU member states.
Oracle said that the commitment is part of its greater $3.3bn annual investment to accelerate digital literacy globally.
As part of the pledge, the Oracle Academy will train 1,000 additional EU educators in CS, Java and Database instruction, and seek to reach students across an added 1,000 EU educational institutions in the next three years.
The Oracle Academy will drive a number of programmes during the next three years. It will invite national coalitions in the EU member states to partner with the academy in offering CS education to teachers and students.
It will provide new higher education curriculum in emerging technologies, and level the Oracle Academy’s entire curriculum to the European Qualifications Framework.
Read CBR’s interview with Oracle CEO Mark Hurd.
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Oracle said its latest commitment to the EU expands a pledge it took in 2013, which trained and empowered 1,246 EU educators in teaching computer science, and added 203 EU educational institutions to its academy.
Digital Europe director general John Higgins said digitally skilled professionals are critical to Europe’s competitiveness and capacity for innovation, citing that the demand for workers with computer science and coding skills increased by 4% every year in the last ten years.
“Oracle’s efforts to bring computer science into classrooms across the European Union will help strengthen our digital economy,” Higgins said.
Earlier this year, Oracle made significant pledges to the White House’s CS for All and Let Girls Learn initiatives.
Oracle Academy vice president Alison Derbenwick Miller said: “Today’s announcement continues our momentum to advance digital education and increase diversity in technology fields globally.”
Digital Europe is the European organisation that represents the digital technology industry whose members include 62 major technology companies and 37 national trade associations.
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