NIIT partners with NComputing for ICT Education in
Schools
Joint initiative to offer low cost computing for schools throughout
India
New Delhi, November 06, 2007: NIIT, Asia’s No. 1 trainer
and leading Global Talent Development Corporation today announced that it has
entered into a strategic alliance with US based NComputing, Inc., the leading
provider of virtual PC solutions, to enable thousands of schools across India to
bring affordable computer education to its students. The agreement was signed
between Mr. L. Balasubramanian, President of NIIT’s School Learning Solutions
and Mr. Raj Shah, Chief Marketing Officer of NComputing here today.
The alliance will help reduce the cost of computing in schools by 50% from
current levels, thus enabling schools across India’s cities, towns and villages
to offer computer education to its students at a fraction of the cost.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr L. Balasubramanian, President-School Learning
Solutions, NIIT said, “NIIT is committed to making education more
impactful and interactive, by leveraging IT, and ensuring that the best tools
and resources are made available to millions of school students. We are pleased
to partner with NComputing to make available low-cost computing solutions for
schools.”
NIIT, which offers computer and computer aided education to 1.5 million
students across over 5,000 schools, will bring its expertise and reach in
schools while NComputing will offer its breakthrough technology, through this
joint initiative. The partnership aims to promote NComputing’s shared computing
solution to the Indian Kindergarten to 12th standard (K-12) education system,
thus enabling a multi-fold increase in PC-based education in government and
private schools, across the country.
“NComputing is delighted to join forces with NIIT to bring truly
affordable computing to K-12 schools throughout India,” said Raj Shah, Chief
Marketing Officer of NComputing. “This alliance will leverage the strength and
reach of NIIT’s education business in schools, with NComputing’s proven virtual
PC solutions.”
NIIT has already deployed the solution in twenty schools across the country
under the ‘NIIT School Station’ project. The initial response from the
government schools has been very encouraging since it helps to dramatically
reduce purchase and support costs. Most Government Schools view this solution
as a way to expand the number of children that can have computing access for the
same funds.
NComputing complements NIIT’s holistic computer aided education solution
which addresses the needs of all the key stakeholders within the education
realm—students, teachers, principals, the school management and parents. The
product portfolio also includes NIIT eGuru and NIIT IT Wizard solutions for
enhancing the teaching and learning experience.
NIIT through its School Learning Solutions division is reaching 1.5 million
kids annually in government and private schools, mostly in rural areas,
equipping them with crucial IT skills to prepare them for tomorrow’s knowledge
society. NIIT is working actively to make computers an intrinsic part of the
lives of children and also those of the socially and economically challenged
sections of the society, who may never have had a chance to integrate with the
emerging 21st century environment, to give a better prospect to their
future.
How NComputing solution works?
The NComputing solution is based on a simple fact that today’s PCs are so
powerful that the vast majority of applications only use a small fraction of
their computing capacity. NComputing taps this unused capacity so that it can be
simultaneously shared by multiple users. The NComputing solution consists of
virtualization software that enables a single PC to be shared by many users.
Each user’s monitor, keyboard, and mouse are connected to a very small and
highly reliable NComputing access device, which is then connected to the shared
PC. NComputing access devices and software can allow as many as 30 users to
access the capability of one PC, thus bringing down the cost of infrastructure,
installation, and maintenance cost. NComputing has deployed over 500,000 virtual
PCs in 70 countries around the world, mostly in schools, businesses, and
government offices. Last month, the Republic of Macedonia announced that it was
deploying 160,000 NComputing devices to enable every school child in its
government school system with computing access at their desk.
In addition to lower initial costs, the NComputing solution also lowers
ongoing support costs. For example, the NComputing access devices only use one
watt of electricity – compared to 120 watts of electricity for a dedicated PC.
This reduces electricity consumption by up to 95%, which is very critical in a
country like India. The lower power consumption also reduces the need for
uninterruptible power supply (UPS) systems and inverters. Finally, since fewer
PCs need to be maintained, the support, maintenance and replacement costs are
significantly lower.
About NComputing Inc.
Founded with the goal of making computing affordable for everyone,
NComputing, Inc. is a privately held software and hardware technology design and
manufacturing company with offices in Australia, Canada, China, Germany, India,
Korea, Poland, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Headquartered
in Redwood City, CA, the company's patented technologies drastically lower
costs, improve manageability and reduce energy consumption. NComputing was
recently named Wall Street Journal's Technology Innovator of the year in the
computing systems category.
About NIIT
NIIT, Asia’s No. 1 trainer and leading Global Talent Development
Corporation, offers learning and knowledge solutions to 5 million students
across 32 countries. Leading IT magazine Dataquest has conferred upon NIIT, the
Top IT Training Company Award 2006. Rated among India’s Superbrands (2003-05),
NIIT’s Individual Learning Business offerings include:
Industry-endorsed programs for students seeking careers in IT: GNIIT, Integrated
ANIIT for Engineers (IAE) and Advanced Technology Programs for IT professionals.
For working professionals, NIIT Imperia, Centre for Advanced
Learning, offers Executive Management Education Programmes in
association with Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) at Ahmedabad, Indore and
Kolkata.
NIIT Institute of Finance Banking & Insurance (IFBI),
formed with equity participation from ICICI Bank, offers programs to develop
talent for the banking industry.
NIIT School Learning Solutions (SLS) offers turn key IT and ICT integration
program for schools. NIIT SLS has provided computer-based learning to over 5000
government and private schools.
NIIT’s Corporate Learning Solutions, offers integrated learning solutions
(including strategic consulting, learning design, content development, delivery,
technology, assessment and learning management) to Fortune 500 companies,
Universities, Technology companies, Training corporations and Publishing
houses.
Element K delivers learning solutions for customers and
partners through a tailored combination of catalog learning products,
technology, and services. The offerings include: vLab®:
hands-on labs, instructor-led courseware, comprehensive e-reference libraries,
technical journals, and KnowledgeHub™: hosted learning
management platform.
NIIT together with Element K is now the first and the best choice
for comprehensive learning solutions, worldwide.
For media queries, please contact:
Prateek Chatterjee, NIIT Limited, Ph: +91 9910201085, +91 124 4293041;