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Employability, Entrepreneurship
and Workforce Development
To thrive in a digital economy, people need skills appropriate to the times.
During the past 20 to 30 years, the demand for increasingly sophisticated
information technology in society and the workplace has placed an
ever-growing premium on knowledge- and technology-intensive skills.
Occupations as disparate as delivery driver, doctor, bank teller, and graphic
designer now fall under the broad category of information worker. Students,
teachers, and school administrators must also adapt to learning in the digital
age, and the education system must constantly evolve to educate and
prepare the information workers of the 21st century.
Success in this global, collective future also heavily depends on the
students of today developing innovative solutions for key societal
issues. To be truly innovative, any solutions they fnd must involve a
change in thinking in addition to a useful application of these new
ideas or discoveries. Entrepreneurs transform innovations into
economic goods using fnancial and business acumen. Innovation
needs entrepreneurship to evolve from idea to reality; without the
entrepreneurs passion for change and scale, many innovations
would lack a lasting impact on society. It is these young innovators
that will fuel small businesses to grow, new businesses to thrive,
and local economies to expand in the 21st century.
The challenges of workforce development and
economic growth
The following challenges highlight the major issues involved with driving
employability, entrepreneurship, and workforce development in any geography:
Leveraging the workforce. Across the globe, world economies have vastly
different levels of development, and the workforce is a renewable,
sustainable resource available to all nations and communities. Given current
demands on national economies, leveraging the workforce to its fullest is an
imperative that cannot be ignored. Economies must foster increased labor
productivity by allocating workers to higher-value activities, activities that
leverage the benefts of the increasing scale and scope of information
technology.
Building regional capacity for entrepreneurship. Strong economies depend
on successful companies, fresh innovations, and a ready workforce. Microsoft
and its community of partnershundreds of thousands of small and
medium-sized businesses, innovators, and entrepreneurscontinuously create
new jobs and fresh innovations that help strengthen economies today.
According to a recent IDC report,
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the information and communication
technology (ICT) sector will create 5.8 million new jobs globally between 2009
and 2013. Microsoft devoted nearly $9 billion and more than 30,000 people to
conducting research and development in 2009 and helped to inspire thousands
of new companies through the Microsoft Innovation Centers and the
Microsoft BizSpark program. The growth of ICT jobs, coupled with deep
commitments by Microsoft, demonstrate that the Microsoft community of
partners and professionals can help create next-generation jobs, innovations,
and economic impact in any region.
Teaching 21st-century skills. To innovate in the 21st century, national
economies need a more adaptable, skilled, and literate workforce. This
requirement places a greater emphasis on education and training strategies
with a focus on employability and entrepreneurship as a key tenet of education
strategy. Microsoft is committed to helping government and educators around
the world respond successfully to the demand for increased information literacy
and for the development of critical-thinking skills that the modern workplace
requires. Microsoft works with education policymakers, ministries of education,
and education institutions to fnd creative ways to impart these skills to the
next generation.
Driving sustainable growth. Microsoft can help both developed and emerging
economies refne their learning and skills strategies. We can make an impact by
connecting to local economies in our areas of core expertise and competence.
Our technologies can also have an impact through their positive contribution to
the key elements of sustainable growthhelping to transform education,
fostering innovation, and enabling jobs and opportunities. These three elements
act in a virtuous cycle:
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Our programs include:
Microsoft IT Academy
The Microsoft IT Academy program is a
subscription-based membership program
designed for academic institutions. It offers
comprehensive IT training, resources, and
Microsoft certifcation opportunities to enhance
employability and to encourage lifelong learning.
www.microsoft.com/education/MSITAcademy
Microsoft Faculty Connection
Microsoft Faculty Connection is a site that
operates in conjunction with Microsoft Developer
Network Academic Alliance (MSDNAA) to provide
educators with a central repository of materials
and resources produced both internally by
Microsoft and externally by other universities
to aid teaching of computing and technology-
related subjects. It includes access to royalty-free
labs, tutorials, lecture notes, assignments, and
sample solutions. A large portion of materials are
dedicated to general ICT concepts and theory,
such as security, industry trends, and testing.
www.microsoft.com/faculty
Microsoft DreamSpark
Microsoft DreamSpark offers developer and
designer tools to students at no charge. Students
can also access e-learning and certifcation
programs to help take that frst step forward
toward early adoption.
www.dreamspark.com
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Learning contributes to innovation, which leads to greater productivity, which
provides more time and resources to educate current and future members of
the workforce. This virtuous cycle can fuel growth, accelerate development, and
increase prosperity in a global, knowledge-based economy, especially when the
tools that enhance business productivity are applied to the education
institutions themselves. Having a skilled workforce of educated citizens can also
forge social cohesion and inspire a culture of innovation. Such a culture attracts
investment and entrepreneurial opportunities and can add value to products
and services, both of which facilitate increasing investments in infrastructure in
local emerging markets.
How Microsoft helps address these challenges
Microsoft works to bring the benefts of technology and technology skills to all global
citizens. We create and deploy accessible technology to transform education, enable
jobs and opportunities, and foster local innovation, all in an effort to raise living
standards across the globe.
Our primary commitment, therefore, is to help drive the success of every educator
and learner. We believe that scalable, digital, personalized learners and communities
can make this vision a reality.
We believe that:
Education is a basic right and a social imperative.
Technology can accelerate delivery and deployment of knowledge through
education.
Accessible technology makes it easier for anyone to see, hear, and use a
computer and to customize their computing environment according to their
own preferences, needs, and abilities.
Digital literacy is essential to all levels and types of jobs in the modern
workforce.
Communities of committed, collaborative participants advance education for all.

Toward these ends, Microsoft collaborated with educators, institutions, governments,
and other private sector companies to help address the key issues related to
employability, entrepreneurship, and workforce development:
Building local capacity for entrepreneurship and innovation. Microsoft
believes in the positive societal effect that innovation and entrepreneurship can
have on the world and delivers global programs and resources that can help
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Imagine Cup
The Imagine Cup is the worlds premier student
technology competition. The theme is to imagine
a world where technology helps solve the
toughest challenges. Now in its ninth year, the
Imagine Cup provides students the opportunity
to apply technology skills with innovative
thinking and team collaboration to solve
real-world problems.
www.imaginecup.com
Microsoft Student Career Portal
The Microsoft Student Career Portal offers
students resources and guidance on IT job
roles, training, and certifcations. Microsoft
Certifcations provide a universally recognized
credential that validates a candidates skill,
knowledge, and profciency with a specifc
Microsoft tool or technology. This enables
students to demonstrate job-ready competencies
and can help employers select candidates who
have the skills necessary for success in todays
knowledge economy.
www.microsoft.com/learning/studentcareer
Microsoft Students to Business
The Students to Business (S2B) program is a
Microsoft initiative designed to connect students
with Microsoft technology skills to Microsoft
partners and customers for entry-level and
internship positions using Microsoft technologies.
www.microsoft.com/studentstobusiness
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students harness knowledge as a means of transforming the world around
them.
Brazil started operating the frst Microsoft Innovation Center (MIC) in the
City of Curitiba in 2001. Since then, the program has grown to 15 major
cities in Brazil, with diverse partnership models involving universities,
government agencies, and industry associations. Microsoft Innovation
Centers are deeply integrated with universities, where they not only help
connect students and curriculum with demand from the software industry
but also drive entrepreneurship through the introduction of new ideas and
programs to help students make their own contribution to local economies.
Since 2005, Microsoft Innovation Centers have run in partnership with a
program called Students to Business (S2B). The objective of the S2B
program is to inspire local businesses to communicate the competency
requirements for new talent, to evaluate the skills of students ready for an
entry-level job or internship, and to collaborate with Microsoft and local
education institutions to provide the curriculum and training needed to
help ensure that students are prepared to meet the innovation needs of
companies around the globe. In Brazil, the program takes place in multiple
stages in which student candidates are trained and tested on a range of
topics from general software engineering to specifc technology applications.
At the end of the program, students must earn a technical certifcation to be
hired by the sponsors of the program. Since 2005, more than 8,000 students
have enrolled in the S2B program that universities run in partnership with
the MICs and local companies, generating more than 15,000 new jobs in the
ICT sector.
Embracing external communities to enable jobs and opportunities.
Learning and skills development involve the entire learning community,
regardless of age, gender, ability, background, or life stage. The benefts go
beyond the individual, helping families and communities gain useful skills.
Similarly, educators must be brought together to help nurture communities of
practice, education researchers can drive best practices within the communities
themselves, and communities of practice should be extended outside of the
education environment to include students, parents, non-governmental
organizations (NGOs), and industry professionals. A strong technology
infrastructure makes communities more appealing to local, regional, and
global businesses and investors. Subsequently external resource infusions
bolster economic growth and global competitiveness, in addition to
stimulating jobs and inspiring entrepreneurship. Students and citizens must
have access to technology to substantiate their skills and to thrive and grow in
the 21st century. Microsoft helps to provide this essential ingredient to
institutions, educators, and students through its technology access, initiatives,
and skills development programs, thus providing opportunities to have a
strongly positive impact on growth and economic development.
As an education partnership between Microsoft and the State of North
Carolina for all of their 628 public high schools, the Microsoft IT Academy
curriculum and certifcation will be mandatory for all North Carolina high
school students taking computer application courses. The State of North
Carolina believes this program is scalable and sustainable and provides their
teachers with the professional development needed to help ensure that
their students have the right skills to be successful in the digital age.
Teacher Matt Lambert reviewed the e-learning courses on Microsoft Word
and Microsoft PowerPoint and took the exams himself before giving them
to his students. This allowed him to quickly ramp up and learn the content
and to help his students better prepare for the Microsoft Offce Certifcation
exams. I am now working with our high schools IT department on how
Microsoft Innovation Centers
Microsoft Innovation Centers provide
communities with a comprehensive set of
programs and services that help expand
workforce skills, create jobs, strengthen
innovation, and improve competitiveness.
Microsoft Innovation Centers around the world
are co-hosting or leading networking events
where entrepreneurs, developers, designers,
lawyers, and marketing experts gather to
empower new companies and to foster
entrepreneurism in 100 cities and 60 countries.
www.microsoft.com/MIC
BizSpark
Microsoft BizSpark is a global program designed
to accelerate the success of early stage start-ups
by providing software, support, and visibility.
www.bizspark.com
Education Desktop
With the education desktop, connecting and
collaborating can be easier than ever, thanks to
the powerful combination of Windows 7,
Microsoft Offce 2010, and Offce Web Apps.
These easy-to-use tools can help students and
educators stay connected from virtually
anywhere.
http://www.microsoft.com/education/solutions/
educationdesktop.aspx

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they can use the e-learning and get certifed. Microsoft IT Academy
membership provides educators with the resources they need to plan the
right technology courses, align with industry hiring needs, and deliver
dynamic learning experiences to a diverse community of students.
Educators can access an integrated package of courseware, e-learning
programs, lesson plans, certifcation, and course management tools to help
students with employability and lifelong learning. As the North Carolina
State Board of Education says, Every North Carolina public school student
will graduate from high school, globally competitive for work and
post-secondary education and prepared for life in the 21st century.
In a partnership with Microsoft, All India Council of Technical Education
(AICTE) (www.aicte-india.org) is working to give 8 million students across
12,000 institutes an opportunity to enhance their technical skills with
access to the latest technology through the Microsoft DreamSpark program.
DreamSpark is a program set up by Microsoft to provide students with
software design and development tools at no charge. Dr. S.S. Mantha,
chairman of AICTE, expressed the hope that this partnership will raise
the level of technical learning and education in India. Post-secondary
institutions, students, and faculty across the entire nation, in both urban and
rural areas, will be able to quickly and easily access world-class software.
This will take technical learning and development to a higher level. This
partnership is part of a larger plan by Hon Kapil Sibal, Minister for Human
Resource Development, to improve skills development and vocational
education in the country.
Delivering sustainable change with public/private partnerships.
Governments, institutions, and industry all have an interest in a skilled and
entrepreneurial workforce, and building partnerships that leverage this mutual
interest is critical in sustaining efforts at change. The following example
highlights one way to leverage existing efforts to drive local sustainable
change:
Assessment and Teaching of 21st Century Skills (atc21s.org). The
ATC21s initiative is focused on defning 21st-century skills and developing
ways to assess them. This global project aims to promote the teaching and
assessment of these skills at all levels of the education system and with large
employers to infuence the hiring of students with these skills. The materials
and studies, as they become available, will be placed in the public domain.
These approaches, taken together, should act as a multi-pronged stimulus
to curriculum change and should enable schools to prepare students for
living, working, and thinking in the 21st century. At present, the countries
participating in this effort include Australia, Finland, Portugal, Singapore,
the United Kingdom, and the United States.
World Economic Forum Global Education Initiative on
Entrepreneurship. The World Economic Forum established the Global
Education Initiative (GEI) to raise awareness and support the implementation
of relevant, sustainable, and scalable national education sector plans on a
global level through the increased engagement of the private sector. The
Global Education Initiative has helped more than 1.8 million students and
teachers and has mobilized more than U.S.$100 million in resource support
in Jordan, Rajasthan (India), Egypt, the Palestinian Territories, and Rwanda in
six years. Today, the GEI engages more than 40 private sector partners, 14
governments, 7 international organizations, and 20 non-governmental
organizations. The GEI is now embarking on a process aimed at addressing
the relevance of education for economic growth, innovation, and
entrepreneurship at the global agenda, advancing entrepreneurship
Microsoft Community Technology Skills
The Microsoft Community Technology Skills
program works with partners to create training
opportunities for people underserved by
technology and includes:
Cash grants, software, and specialized
curricula for nonproft community
technology centers.
A framework for institutions to deliver IT
skills to communities that previously would
not have had access to these skills.
Opportunities for students in these
communities to gain essential computer
skills that can equip them to compete
more effectively in the job market.
Support for stronger community-based
organizations providing IT skills for
lifelong learning.
http://www.microsoft.com/about/corporateciti-
zenship/en-us/our-actions/in-the-community/
workforce-development.aspx

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education as one of the key drivers of sustained social development
and economic recovery. As one of the nine private-sector entities on the
Steering Board for the GEI, Microsoft plays a signifcant role in determining
strategy and facilitating scalable solutions. The emphasis on entrepreneurship
education refects the fact that entrepreneurship is a tremendous force that
can have a big impact on economic growth and societal progress by fuelling
innovation, employment generation, and social empowerment. Currently,
the multi-stakeholder education partnership is executing roundtables in
Latin America, Middle East, Northern Africa, and Europe to connect local
NGOs, intergovernmental organizations (IGOs), researchers, companies, and
governments to build scalable and sustainable programs to ignite the next
generation of entrepreneurs and to drive national competiveness.
Microsoft Education Alliance Agreement
Microsoft has signifcant investments in programs that offer affordable solutions for
students, educators, institutions, and governments. The Microsoft Education Alliance
Agreement focuses on aligning our solutions against your unique needs in education.
It is an agreement tailored specifcally to the requirements of your region or
country. Microsoft can work with you to determine which of our programs and
solutions would be most benefcial for your geography.
A Microsoft Education Alliance Agreement, in recognition of the critical need for
sound strategic planning, works to establish frm commitments from all key
education stakeholders to help ensure that every participant is working toward a
common, transformative vision. Perhaps most importantly, a Microsoft Education
Alliance Agreement with Microsoft forms the basis of a long-term, on-going
education partnership that allows regular review and measurement to help
ensure that all our undertakings remain aligned in the future.
To request more information or to discuss how we can work together, contact us or
contact your local Microsoft representative.
1. See http://download.microsoft.com/download/D/3/3/D3346D96-DBBC-4AC0-
B3EF-60BFDA205470/2009_OCT_Global_White_Paper_IDC_2009_Study.pdf.
Visit us at www.microsoft.com/education/leadership/priorities/workforce_development.aspx.
2011 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
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including URL and other Internet website references, may change without notice. You bear the
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This document does not provide you with any legal rights to any intellectual property in any
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Microsoft Digital Literacy curriculum
Microsoft Digital Literacy focuses on teaching and
assessing basic computer concepts and skills so
that people can use computer technology in
everyday life to develop new social and economic
opportunities for themselves, their families, and
their communities. The program offers:
A curriculum of fve e-learning courses,
fve online assessments, and a
certifcate test, totaling 30 hours of
learning to equip students, faculty, and
staff across all disciplines with a standard
level of computer skills.
Accessible, easy-to-use, self-paced
introduction to the basics of computing.
The opportunity for learners to develop
the essential skills needed to use
computers with confdence, whether at
work or for personal use.
www.microsoft.com/education/MSITAcademy/
benefts/digitalliteracy.mspx