Microsoft Wants 1 Billion New PC Users by 2015

By Ed Oswald, BetaNews

April 19, 2007, 12:27 PM

Microsoft used the backdrop of Bill Gates' trip to China to announce a new program that would help to provide technology to the estimated five billion worldwide who have little or no access to it.

The plan is quite expansive, including initiatives that would focus on education, innovations, and jobs and economic growth. It hopes to reach the first billion of those underserved by the year 2015, it says.

"Bringing the benefits of technology to the next 5 billion people will require new products that meet the needs of underserved communities; creative, new business approaches that make technology more relevant, accessible and affordable; and close collaboration between local governments, educational institutions and community organizations," Gates said from Beijing.

In education, the company is investing $250 million over the next five years in its Partners in Learning program, aimed at giving teachers instruction in Microsoft products as well as intergrading technology into the curriculum.

Microsoft will also offer qualifying governments the opportunity to purchase the Microsoft Student Innovation Suite. This includes Windows XP Starter Edition, Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007, Microsoft Math 3.0, Learning Essentials 2.0 for Microsoft Office, and Windows Live Mail desktop.

The suite will be offered in the second half of 2007 for only $3 USD. However, governments must provide the software on PCs to students in order to qualify, it said.

Microsoft also will recommit to its Microsoft Innovation Center program, aimed at giving workers the tools they need in the technology industry and assistance in starting their own companies. An additional 200 centers would be either opened or supported by 2009.

To foster job growth and opportunity, Microsoft said it was working with companies to help them find qualified candidates worldwide. The first initiative will launch by the end of the year and help match the 400,000 Indian engineering students who graduate each year to prospective employers.

Other initiatives include an partnership with the Asian Development Bank to foster innovation in the Asia-Pacific region; new Partnernships for Technology Access in Argentina, Botswana, Chile, China and Egypt; and the launch of the Telecentre Knowledge Network, which works to provide shared technology access in underserved areas.

A white paper describing the "Unlimited Potential" initiative can be found on Microsoft's Web site.