This morning, IBM and the Rochester Institute of Technology announced they will coalesce toward the creation of what they're calling an Innovation and Collaboration Lab. The new Rochester-based laboratory will help students prepare for the further adoption of Web 2.0 technologies.

"The overarching aim of RIT's Innovation and Collaboration Lab is to bring real-world access of IBM emerging technologies to RIT undergraduates so that they go beyond learning about software trends and actually start developing real code for IBM technologies," an IBM spokesperson told BetaNews today.

IBM will provide servers, notebooks and PCs for students, though it is not yet disclosing the quantity, and it will be dispatching IBM employees on-site to help students with their work. The employees will be able to help students work on projects that can be implemented directly into the Web 2.0 world.

Not surprisingly, each notebook and PC will come pre-loaded with IBM's Lotus Symphony software. Lotus Symphony features a word processor, spreadsheet and presentation application, and is available for free download.

IBM-selected RIT undergraduate students will work in the lab to satisfy a co-op requirement for graduation. Students from the Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences, National Technical Institute for the Deaf, and the College of Imaging Arts and Sciences, three RIT colleges, will also have access.

"Because the number of enrolling freshman computer science majors across the US has been declining since the 1990s," the spokesperson told us, "IBM is working with educational institutions like RIT to suprt interest in IT careers while equipping students interested in technology with real-world skills before they enter the workforce."

RIT's emphasis on research and real work experience continues to grow at a steady rate, with students required to take a co-op before graduating from the university.

Silicon Valley companies and large universities have created working relationships to offer universities the chance to further accelerate their computer programs, especially since there is a shortage of trained IT professionals in the United States. In addition to its collaboration with RIT, IBM works with a number of universities to help students "reach their academic goals."

Last month, Microsoft announced the Dreamspark initiative, which offers university students the opportunity to use several Microsoft products for free with a full educational license.