In an effort to develop technical skills, bridge the gap between the requirements at the local market and increase the professional skills of the students in the information technology sector, the German Jordanian University signed an agreement with Sun Microsystems to launch Sun Authorized Academic Institution (SAI), in the presence of Dr. Thomas Bayer Sun Chief Learning Officer for South & East EMEA, and Mr. Tarek Ayass Sun Education & Research Regional Manager for MENA. In accordance to the agreement, STS, the leading integrated IT solution provider in Jordan, completed installing SUN UNIX educational labs at the German-Jordanian University under special academic programs from SUN Microsystems.
The vision behind setting up the Sun Authorized Academic Institution is to draw on Sun’s vast array of human talent and technology expertise for the benefit of Jordan’s emerging generation of developers and IT management. Technological innovation and Sun OS and Java technologies will also be high on the agenda for the forthcoming education labs.
“Through SAI, the University will develop modern and practical ICT-related educational programs that are in tune with the increasing demands of the regional market,” said Professor Labib Khadra, President of the German-Jordanian University. “The goal is to help Jordan and the region shift towards a stronger knowledge economy.”
“Jordan’s national commitment to technology and its burgeoning education sector have created an ideal climate for Sun’s academic initiatives in the Levant region,” said Tarek Ayass, Sales Manager, Education and Research, Sun Microsystems Middle East and North Africa.
“It is crucial to Sun and its regional operations that, as this territory grows in importance, there is a means through which we can understand what organizations here really need. Through our close relationship with many educational institutions in the region we have realized the great demand for ICT capacity building and tools needed to enhance the local skills and expertise,” explained Ayass.
To succeed in the task that Sun has set itself, the SAI will provide practical support and education to partners and customers from not only Jordan, but surrounding states as well. Through working with in-country main solution provider STS, Sun will be in a position to support the region and its ambitions to develop a 21st century IT infrastructure.
“The objective of the SAI initiative is to create capacity and expertise as part of the faculty and students’ IT-related curriculum and programs, to understand, enhance, and implement Sun's best practices for computing technologies in the Middle East,” said Dr. Salem Al-Agtash, Dean of Informatics and Computing at the German-Jordanian University.
"Graduate students enrolled at Talal Abu-Ghazaleh College of Business - one of the major schools at the University - will benefit from the SAI programs. Special professional diploma programs have been designed on a framework of block certification in Sun Technologies to provide distinguished professionals to meet the requirements of the local and regional job markets”, said the CEO of Talal Abu Ghazaleh College of business.
To support the farsighted scheme, Sun has already dedicated servers, thin-clients, workstations and various software suites with more hardware and software donations to follow, ensuring that the facilities at the labs are on par with Sun’s other research establishments. The educational labs are equipped with state-of-the-art technologies including Quad processor Sun Fire servers powered by UltraSPARC RISC technology and flat screen Sun Ray thin clients.
Lina Ayesh, Director of SUN Microsystems Division at STS, said, “Sun Ray ultra-thin clients provide an interoperable desktop computing solution that reduces the maintenance, upgrade, and operational costs associated with most "fat" PC client environments. The stateless nature of Sun Ray ultra-thin clients allows for complete session mobility, improves workflow, and helps ensure the protection of data.”
One of the key benefits for the university students is that students get prepared for industry-leading certification from Sun, such as the Java programming language and UNIX Solaris Operating System. That certification can go a long way in helping them stand above the crowd when marketing themselves to potential employers and future professional advancement.
“Sun is dedicated to contributing to the growth of the regional economy. We want to be full partners with the governments and businesses of the region, and demonstrate our positive corporate citizenship by playing a role in the success story that is the Middle East,” concluded Ayass.
About Sun Microsystems, Inc.
Since its inception in 1982, a singular vision -- "The Network Is The Computer[tm]" -- has propelled Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Nasdaq: SUNW) to its position as a leading provider of industrial-strength hardware, software and services that make the Net work. Sun can be found in more than 100 countries and on the World Wide Web at http://www.sun.com
About German Jordanian University
The University has been founded in 2005 by a Royal Decree between the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, and the Federal Ministry of Education and Research of the Federal Republic of Germany. The University is the 10th public university in Jordan and will follow the model of the German hochschulen, Universities of Applied Sciences. These Universities are mainly characterized by their philosophy of strict relation to practice and their application oriented approach to knowledge transfer. More information is available at http://www.gju.edu.jo
About STS
STS is a long-standing provider of integrated IT solutions in Jordan and the Middle East, helping to promote growth and competitiveness in the region’s industrial, banking, educational and governmental institutions. The company has built strategic alliances with leading IT companies in the world including Microsoft, DELL, SUN, IBM, Cisco and Hypercom and boasts of a 350-strong corps of highly-qualified professionals working at its several offices across the Middle East.
