ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates, January 27 /PRNewswire/ --

- New research shows Microsoft-related businesses make more than US$15 
for every US$1 Microsoft earns.

Today at the Government Leaders Forum-Arabia in Abu Dhabi, United Arab
Emirates, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates highlighted the transformative power
of education and the critical role public-private partnerships and
information and communication technology (ICT) play to create a strong,
vibrant economy across the region. During his keynote address, Gates
announced a partnership with the Mohammed Bin Rashid Foundation to enhance
research and knowledge creation in the Arab world; the results of a new study
by IDC underscoring the impact of ICT on the region's economy; and a renewed
five-year commitment to the Partners in Learning programme that aims to
significantly expand its impact worldwide, reaching up to three times as many
students, teachers and schools.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20000822/MSFTLOGO)

"Technology has touched millions of lives and played a significant role
in fostering economic development across the region," Gates said.
"Microsoft's goal is to work in close partnership with governments and
partner organisations to help them use technology to accelerate social and
economic development. This Government Leaders Forum is a great opportunity
for leaders from the public and private sectors to discuss the critical
issues they face and create a road map for moving forward together."

Research Underscoring Impact of Information Technology on Arab Region's
Economy

In the next four years, the region's IT sector (in this case comprising
Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and UAE)
will generate more than 210,000 new jobs and account for the creation of more
than 4,100 new IT companies, according to a new study by IDC. The research
highlighted that in 2007 Microsoft-related activities were responsible for 57
per cent of the region's IT employment.

"Today, technology is a key factor for economic, social and technological
progress, and for the sustainability of economies all over the world," said
Jyoti Lalchandani, vice president and regional managing director, IDC Middle
East and Africa. "The IDC research underscores what we've always known to be
true, that software provides a disproportionate contribution to a vibrant IT
economy. It also shows the significant contribution made by the Microsoft
ecosystem, especially in the creation of local businesses and local jobs."

The research, which was commissioned by Microsoft, examined the IT
industry's impact on local job creation, company formation and tax revenues
in 82 countries, representing 99.5 per cent of the total technology spending
worldwide. IDC found that the Microsoft ecosystem -- defined as people
working at IT companies and IT professionals who create, sell or distribute
products that run on Microsoft platforms -- plays a key role in driving the
IT industry's overall contribution to job growth and economic development.

The study also found that Microsoft serves as an economic catalyst in
every country in which it operates. The revenues earned by companies working
with Microsoft far exceed the revenues earned by Microsoft itself. The
research found that for every US$1 that Microsoft earns in 2007, companies
working with Microsoft in the region will earn US$15.56. In addition, in 2007
Microsoft's ecosystem in the region generated more than US$7.9 billion in
revenues, and in 2008 will invest US$1.3 billion in research development,
marketing, sales and support in local economies.

Public Private Partnerships Transform Education and Skills Training

To sustain this economic growth, a high-quality education is fundamental
to the social and economic prosperity of the region. Microsoft is deeply
committed to collaborating with education partners around the world to
provide relevant, high-quality learning experiences that enable students and
teachers to achieve their full potential.

Announcing a renewed commitment over the next five years to Partners in
Learning, Microsoft is continuing to provide educators and partners with
resources and training that can best complement classroom technology and
allow students to reach their full potential. The goal of Partners in
Learning is to leverage the transformative power of software to create
innovative educational experiences that bring students and teachers closer
worldwide. Since its launch in 2003, Partners in Learning has touched the
lives of more than 90 million students, teachers, and education policymakers
in 101 countries. Microsoft is aiming to triple the impact of Partners in
Learning, representing a new, five-year US$235.5 million (US) investment,
which will bring the company's total 10-year investment in Partners in
Learning to nearly US$500 million.

Students, teachers, educators and governments already impacted by
Microsoft's commitment to the Partners in Learning programme can be found
across the Arab world. One such teacher is Maha Al Shakhshir, a biology
teacher from Jordan's Jellol Secondary School in the Middle Bedouin District
and a past recipient of the Secondary School Content award at a Partners in
Learning Innovative Teachers Forum (ITF). She has attended several regional
and global ITF events in recent years and says the opportunity to collaborate
with teachers globally has a positive impact on her time in the classroom.

"Teachers all over the world face the same challenges as I do each day.
Our role as educators is to prepare our students for the outside world,"
Shakhshir said. "Integrating the power of technology with our curriculum can
improve the quality of life and economic vitality of our community by
preparing our students for the future."

Other successful regional Partners in Learning programmes include
Bahrain's Ministry of Education, which partnered with Microsoft to train
teachers in ICT skills to use their new technology knowledge to teach their
students. To date 1,000 teachers have been trained in ICT skills, in turn
training a further 10,000 teachers.

Similarly, Egypt's Ministry of Education and Microsoft partnered to train
more than 50,000 teachers. In Qatar, Al-Bayan Educational Complex for Girls
was a founding member in Microsoft's Innovative Schools two-year programme
with the goal of transforming the school into a model for successful
21st-century education. This programme will equip girls with the skills they
need to participate successfully in Qatar's work force and continue to
increase the number of women making a significant contribution to the
country's growth as a knowledge economy.

Additional Emphasis on Supporting Education

The region has established a variety of programmes and partnerships to
transform education and to satisfy the diverse needs of everyone involved in
education -- from policymakers and ministries of education to university
administrators, teachers, students and their parents. Today's highlights
include the following:

-- A strategic partnership between the Mohammed Bin Rashid Foundation and
       Microsoft to enhance research, knowledge creation and the
       infrastructure of higher education across the Arab world. Microsoft
       will support the foundation by designing and implementing a state-of-
       the-art technology platform in the Arab world establishing a
       collaborative research and knowledge creation environment. The 
       platform will make it easy for professors, researchers and academic 
       institutions to communicate with each other and exchange research and 
       other knowledge.
    -- A special training programme organised by Microsoft, with the
       cooperation of the Qatar government's Internal Security Force, focused
       on developing the IT skills and ambitions of the female work force.
       Female graduates will be able to complete the course in four months, 
       on a full-time basis. Employees who complete their courses will 
       receive certification, which ultimately enables them to become 
       certified developers.
    -- An agreement between Dr Rawiyah bint Saud Al Busaidiyah, minister for
       Higher Education, and Dr Salim Sultan Al Ruzaiqi, chief executive
       officer of Oman's Information Technology Authority, and Microsoft to
       provide advanced online services to 650,000 high-school students 
       across Oman. As part of the live@edu initiative, the new solution will 
       provide a free e-mail service, messaging services, 5 GB of storage and 
       up to 1 GB of password-protected online storage space, automatic 
       e-mail reply, and IP address white listing.
    -- A partnership between Dubai Cares and Microsoft to establish
       community-based e-learning hubs to provide students and teachers with 
       access to technology and help develop their knowledge and skills for 
       the 21st-century workplace. The goal of the digital initiative 
       includes significantly raising the level of ICT literacy among parents 
       and school staff in close collaboration with educational organisations 
       and partners.
    ­- An agreement has been signed between the public universities in
       Jordan under the Jordanian Universities Network (JUNet) and Microsoft 
       to deploy Windows Live@edu as an e-mail service for all of its 
       students, encompassing 10 universities and 150,000 students. Each 
       student will have a mailbox of 5GB available to them, which will be 
       active after graduation to help them stay connected with colleagues 
       and fellow alumni. Live@edu is particularly appealing both to the 
       universities and the students because it is easy to use and works with 
       devices and technologies already familiar to students.



Technology Working for Governments

Local and regional governments have a strong need to collaborate and
share their intellectual property and best practices with one another.
However, the common barriers include a lack of government workers with the
necessary IT skills for successful e-government development and project
management, low PC ownership and usage, inadequate IT infrastructure, funding
shortages and lack of proper legislative frameworks. Microsoft believes
technology can help meet these challenges, and achieve greater operational
efficiency through greater collaboration and innovation.

The Dubai School of Government (DSG), a research and teaching institution
focusing on public policy in the Arab world, has taken the lead in overcoming
these barriers. To share resources and reduce time and costs through
collaboration, DSG worked with Microsoft to adopt the Solutions Sharing
Network (SSN) programme. The global programme helped create a virtual
community that leveraged an e-government portal to facilitate the sharing of
best practices and knowledge.

"It [the portal] will serve as a platform for more effective
communication among nations and regional government leaders, which will
ultimately result in an enhanced and sustained e-governance of the Arab
world," said HE Nabil Ali Alyousuf, executive president of the DSG. "We hope
the upgraded portal will enrich regional academic research on e-government,
tackle e-governance barriers faced by Arab countries, and empower
decision-makers in the region to develop e-government initiatives supporting
reform and good governance."

Additional information on today's announcements is available on
Microsoft's EMEA Press Centre website at
http://www.microsoft.com/emea/presscentre.

About IDC Economic Impact Study Methodology

This study applies IDC's Economic Impact Model, which assesses the IT
industry's impact on job creation, company formation, local IT spending, and
tax revenues in addition to assessing Microsoft's partner ecosystem. The
study's spending figures accounted for hardware, software, services and data
networking expenditures by consumers, businesses, governments and educational
institutions within each country. Tax revenue figures were based on potential
VAT or sales tax revenues from the sale of hardware, software, or services,
as well as business and personal income taxes and social taxes. IT employment
included the number of people employed (full-time equivalent) in hardware,
software, services or channel firms, and those individuals managing IT
resources in an IT-using organisation (eg, programmers, help desk, IT
managers). All data was cross-checked against published information and
census data available from government sources and validated by local
government officials. For information about how to obtain a copy of this
report please visit
http://www.microsoft.com/About/CorporateCitizenship/Citizenship/EconomicImpact

About Partners in Learning

Partners in Learning is a global initiative that builds partnerships with
governments and schools in an effort to help teachers better integrate
technology throughout the learning process, so they and their students are
empowered to excel. To date, Partners in Learning has been successful because
of the thousands of dedicated and passionate teachers, school leaders, and
education policymakers who have embraced the programme and have been willing
to take action toward real change, in the culture of their schools and the
way children learn. Through this initiative, Microsoft works with government
leaders and ministries of education to offer a spectrum of dynamic
educational resources - including tools, programmes and practices - which
help educators and students develop and share knowledge and practices,
extending learning opportunities and enabling students and teachers to
achieve their academic goals. More information can be found at
http://www.microsoft.com/education/partnersinlearning.mspx.

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT") is the worldwide leader in
software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realise
their full potential.

About Microsoft EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa)

Microsoft has operated in EMEA since 1982. In the region Microsoft
employs more than 16,000 people in over 64 subsidiaries, delivering products
and services in more than 139 countries and territories.

This material is for informational purposes only. Microsoft Corp
disclaims all warranties and conditions with regard to use of the material
for other purposes. Microsoft Corp shall not, at any time, be liable for any
special, direct, indirect or consequential damages, whether in an action of
contract, negligence or other action arising out of or in connection with the
use or performance of the material. Nothing herein should be construed as
constituting any kind of warranty.

Web site: http://www.microsoft.com/emea/presscentre