Microsoft to support IT development in Japan

TOKYO — Microsoft Corp.’s Japan unit is planning to support development of IT skills and venture companies in Japan under two initiatives announced Monday.

The initiatives are both centered on Hokkaido prefecture, which is the northernmost of Japan’s four main islands, Steve Ballmer,

chief executive officer of Microsoft, speaking at a news conference in Tokyo.

The first will see Microsoft Co. Ltd. form a venture company incubation fund with the northern Japanese city of Sapporo, the prefectural government of Hokkaido and the Hokkaido Development Organization for Software. Microsoft is participating after a request from the prefectural government, Ballmer said.

“Sapporo is well known for (IT venture area) Sapporo Valley and we have many IT businesses and in this area there are many businesses with innovative technology,” said Harumi Takahashi, governor of Hokkaido prefecture, said in a video conference from Sapporo. “We’d like to do something to further advance the IT industry in Hokkaido.”

The fund will target IT start-up companies based in Sapporo and plans call for the funding of around five companies during its first year. The fund will initially support the companies for their first year of business although this can be extended to a maximum of three years based on an annual performance review. Support will include free software, technical support, and training.

“(The five companies) will get some special attention but the broader focus is the development community at large,” said Michael Rawding, president and CEO of Microsoft Co. Ltd., Microsoft’s Japanese subsidiary. “We aim to show through these companies how a good idea and access to latest skills and technology can be quite powerful.”

Part of this broader focus will include work with development organizations in the area and training sessions to other IT start-ups in addition to those directly supported, he said.

The second scheme ties Microsoft with the prefectural government and covers human resource development.

Under the project, named Stella, Microsoft will develop an IT curriculum for use in Hokkaido’s 11 Advanced Institutes of Technology and a vocational school for the handicapped.

“Project Stella is quite unique,” said Ballmer. “It’s a program we custom developed at the request of the government of Hokkaido and the first work we have done in Japan, and to my knowledge anywhere in the world, to focus on vocational schools to provide training in IT projects.”

The courses will be aimed at both students, who will be able to study towards Microsoft Certified Associate (MCA) and Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) qualifications, and instructors, who will be offered MCA, Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP) and Microsoft Official Trainer (MOT) qualifications.

In addition to developing the curriculum, Microsoft will also supply specialist instructors, course texts and teaching materials, offer preferential examination fee rates and generally support the college IT environment, it said.

Agreements to form the two initiatives were signed during the news conference by Microsoft Japan’s Rawding in Tokyo and Hokkaido Governor Takahashi in Sapporo using Tablet PCs connected together across the Internet.

Microsoft is also supporting IT start-up companies in Gifu prefecture in central Japan and has recently begun providing support, including training, to several universities in Japan.