BU signs first partnership with Microsoft

17 February 2009

BU's Professor Paul Curran and Professor Nick Petford with Microsoft's Steve Beswick

BU has signed the UK’s first Higher Education Alliance Agreement with Global software Leaders Microsoft.

Students and academic staff are set to reap major benefits thanks to a pioneering collaboration between Bournemouth University (BU) and global software leader Microsoft.

Based on the model which is already successful in other parts of the world, the three year Education Alliance Agreement is the first Higher Education partnership in the UK.

One of the Agreement's key objectives is to support BU’s entrepreneurship programme, encouraging students across the University to gain the knowledge and confidence to set up their own businesses.

Other advantages include opportunities to support academic staff and students with cutting-edge software, enabling them to acquire new technology skills and develop real-life business solutions, via access to the world-renowned online Microsoft IT Academy. This will aid future Microsoft research and product development, in both the entertainment and business sectors.

This agreement builds on the existing relationship between the two organisations: Microsoft already supports BU ’s ‘Business Mania’ society for budding entrepreneurs. The University is a key partner in Microsoft’s BizSpark programme, which also helps start-up companies in the South-West region gain access to advice and new software.

BU Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research and Enterprise, Professor Nick Petford, said: “Bournemouth University is excited to be working on this pioneering and innovative new venture with Microsoft. The project will help us bring student entrepreneurship and ICT provision closer together.”