e-Malta Commission signs up for Oracle Education Initiative

Oracle Corporation, in conjunction with the e-Malta Commission and local partner Megabyte Ltd, last Tuesday launched the Oracle Academic Initiative for four local institutions of learning. The announcement was made by Justice and Local Councils Minister Austin Gatt at a press briefing at St James Cavalier, Valletta.

The University of Malta, the Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology, the Employment and Training Corporation, and the Education Division within the Ministry of Education will become accredited participants in the Oracle Academic Initiative, and will include Oracle technology in their teaching curricula.

"Oracle is delighted to be an active participant in Malta's drive to become a centre of excellence in the Mediterranean," Desi Lopez Fafie said. "The success of the Oracle Academic Initiative around the globe is testimony to the importance placed by Oracle Inc. on developing IT skills to bolster countries' economic viability and competitiveness. Oracle's initiative, therefore, complements Malta's efforts perfectly."

According to John Ambrogio of Megabyte, Oracle's partner in Malta, up to 150 students each year will receive full-time tuition on Oracle software as part of their curriculum leading to degree and diploma courses.

"This represents a massive investment in dollar terms for developing IT skills in Malta. Malta is making enormous strides towards becoming a fully fledged knowledge economy with considerable investment in ICT so essential to Malta being recognised as a regional centre of excellence in the Mediterranean."

Oracle is the world's largest enterprise software company. The Oracle Academic Initiative provides software, curriculum, training and certification resources to the higher education community. The mission is to enable colleges and universities to use these cutting-edge resources within degree programmes, helping them to effectively educate their students with industry-relevant skills.

Formed in 1979, Megabyte Ltd (www.megabyte.net) is an established ICT services company providing total computer solutions to private and public sector entities by enabling them to use information technology to solve complex business or organisation problems, to improve performance and add value to their customers.

Oracle is the first software company to develop and deploy 100 per cent Internet-enabled enterprise software across its entire product line: database, business applications, and application development and decision support tools. Oracle is the world's leading supplier of software for information management, and the world's second largest independent software company.