UAE - Dubai, September 21st, 2008: Prof. Omar Hefni, President, University of Dubai (UD) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Mr. Takreem El-Tohamy, General Manger of IBM Middle East and North Africa (MENA). According to this MOU, UD is now formally an academic partner with IBM within the framework of the IBM international 'Academic Initiative' program.
Through this mutual agreement and partnership, UD faculties received advanced and condensed training on IBM technologies for software development and e-Commerce, namely Rational Application Developer and WebSphere. The training spanned two weeks from August 12 till August 21 2008 and was conducted by IBM IT specialists from Poland and Vienna research centres.
In addition, IBM has several international research and development centers which through this agreement are open to the UD faculty to visit and spend residency periods to collaborate on technical and research projects as well as writing technical books for IBM.
Prof. Said Selim, Dean of the College of Information Technology at UD said: "This MOU and the following advanced training opens opportunities for UD faculty and students to further develop the information systems and technology industry in Dubai and the UAE. Drawing on both professional experience and academic knowledge it will facilitate a direct transfer of advanced technical knowledge from IBM specialists to UD students and to the broader business community". He added: "From a university perspective, this MOU provides the framework which creates professional development opportunities for students and faculty who can attend IBM industry workshops, together with international IT professionals. Thus, it will boost university-industry exchange of knowledge, ideas and research & development projects".
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© Press Release 2008
