Fujitsu continues to digitalise Britain’s educational agenda

Fujitsu has announced that the growth of its Education Ambassador Programme is set to continue with today’s declaration of 20 new Education establishments set to sign up to this year. In collaboration with Intel, Fujitsu first launched the programme at Bett 2015 and the initiative has already supported ten schools, colleges and universities across the UK, by setting up Innovation Hubs to equip these establishments with high performance solutions and support digital skills development.

The initiative aims to enhance teaching and unleash students' potential by putting technology at the heart of education and aligns with the Department for Education’s Further Education Learning Technology Action Group (FELTAG), which aims to identify obstacles preventing further education providers taking full advantage of technology.

Chosen for their commitment and desire to support in shaping future generations of students by inspiring them to take-up technology subjects, Fujitsu, alongside partners Intel, Brocade and Kyocera, will continue the successful model of setting up Innovation Hubs at each Ambassador institution and then using the hubs and technology to support project based learning and skills development. The Hubs will feature Fujitsu and Intel® technology which will not only provide students with the opportunity to develop their digital skills, but educators themselves too.

“We are incredibly excited to further grow our commitment to putting technology at the heart of education, with the goal of signing 20 new Ambassadors this year,” said Ash Merchant, Director of Education, UK & Ireland, Fujitsu. “One thing I have learnt over two decades in and around the Education sector is that passion goes a long way and supports in driving success and achievement. However passion is sometimes not enough – education needs collaboration and support from the industry to really support the right skills development for young people, to lead to future employment opportunity, and that’s what the Ambassador Programme is all about.”

The 20 new Education Innovation Hubs will house an array of Fujitsu technology including Fujitsu's STYLISTIC tablet and hybrid range, LIFEBOOK laptop range and ESPRIMO desktop PC range – all running on the latest Intel® Core™ processor technology.

“Intel shares Fujitsu’s passion for education and inclusion for all and is delighted to support the Education Ambassador Programme,” says David McCarron, Education Director Intel, EMEA. “We have a decade worth of experience, working with more than 12 million teachers globally and we know the potential technology can bring to the classroom to enrich learning.  We are thoroughly looking forward to embarking on 2016’s journey with Fujitsu and supporting the 20 new Hubs and its Ambassadors to prepare their students for the digital future ahead.”

The first of the 20 signed up as 2016 Ambassadors include:

• Swansea University
• University of Northampton
• The National Museum of Computing
• RNIB / New College Worcester
• New College Nottingham
• National Autistic Society, The Anderson School
• Canterbury College
• Fife College
• The Leigh UTC
• London Design Engineering UTC
• Watford UTC
• UTC Warrington
• London South Bank UTC

Additionally, Fujitsu – nominee for the 2016 Bett awards ‘ICT Company of the Year’ - has announced the launch of its “Operation Innovation,” - a national competition for University Technical Colleges giving students the opportunity to apply their skill and knowledge in a more real-world context.

Launching this year, teams will use Fujitsu IoT technology to invent a commercial solution that could overcome a challenge facing civilisation or provide a solution to a problem. The winning team will be awarded a trip to Fujitsu Laboratories HQ in Germany and the opportunity to present their idea to Fujitsu’s Chief Technical Officer, Dr Joseph Reger. The idea could become a real-world invention.