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Expansion of the programs is aimed at strengthening region's research
community.
PANAMA CITY, May 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Microsoft Research today kicked
off its fourth annual Latin American Academic Summit, where the Panamanian
President Martin Torrijos Espino welcomed nearly 300 academic, government and
industry research leaders from 18 Latin American countries to the City of
Knowledge research park. The attendees were brought together by Microsoft
Research to discuss how scientific research and development can stimulate
social, economic and scientific progress throughout the Latin American region.
Rick Rashid, senior vice president of Microsoft Research, delivered the keynote
address, and Gonzalo Rivas, chief of the Division of Science and Technology at
the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), provided comments.
"We thank Microsoft for having selected Panama to host the Latin American
Academic Summit at the City of Knowledge, a complex built atop an ancient
military base and dedicated to education, research and innovation, and now home
to several companies and international organizations in the new economy," said
Martin Torrijos, president of Panama. "This makes evident how this country
accepts the challenge of innovation on a global scale, and we invite Microsoft
and other corporations to support Panama, Latin America and the Caribbean in
narrowing the gap in the creation of knowledge."
During a keynote address, Rashid, who is the head of Microsoft Research's six
global research labs, announced the company's second round of funding to the
Latin American and Caribbean Collaborative ICT Research Federation (Virtual
Institute). This funding of $150,000 (U.S.) will help continue the expansion of
research opportunities across the region. Rashid also demonstrated Microsoft
Corp.'s new WorldWide Telescope, an innovative collaborative tool that brings
real celestial bodies to a user's desktop. The technology became available
yesterday as a free resource to the astronomy and education communities.
"For the last five years, Microsoft Research has invested in increasing the
capacity, visibility and quality of Latin American academic research through
initiatives such as the Virtual Institute, an internship and fellowship program,
and support to several innovative research projects," Rashid said. "We believe
that investing in computing and academic research will deliver much-needed,
long-term social and economic benefits to the region."
Joining Microsoft in its support of the Virtual Institute was the IDB, which
concluded the morning session by announcing $150,000 (U.S.) in funding for the
Virtual Institute, bringing the total to $300,000.
"The Inter-American Development Bank shares Microsoft Research's commitment
to address the research capacity across the region," IDB's Rivas said. "We are
pleased to announce our contribution of $150,000 to support the Latin American
and Caribbean Collaborative ICT Research Federation and other efforts designed
to support a collaborative environment to enable cross- country research and
education solutions."
Today's announcements and Microsoft Research's annual Latin American research
event underscore future trends of computing research and highlight the
importance of collaborating with partners in the academic, education and
scientific communities to foster digital inclusion, develop economies and
support competitiveness in the region through increasing research capacity for
faculty and students.
Over the past several years, Microsoft has worked to identify local trends
and challenges in technology, and to establish deep relationships with academic
and governmental research communities. Since 2002, Microsoft Research has
invested approximately $5 million (U.S.) through research grants, technology
learning labs, regional research summits, internships and doctorate fellowships,
and other regional initiatives.
One tangible result of this investment is the
Virtual Institute. The company's initial contribution to establish the institute
in May 2007 was $1.1 million (U.S.). The IDB and the Organization of American
States were among the original organizations that joined Microsoft Research in
this research endeavor, which is designed to stimulate Latin American academic
collaborative research in information and communication technologies as an
enabler of economic and social development. T
he institute's administrative hub
has been established at Pontificia Universidad Catolica De Chile (PUC-Chile) and
Universidad de Chile in Santiago, with spoke universities in Brazil, Argentina,
Uruguay, Costa Rica and Mexico. The research federation is interacting with 215
researchers from 29 universities in 11 countries in Latin America. Microsoft
Research also continues to support research projects ranging from advancing
bioinformatics, genome biology and biotechnology to digital inclusion through
mobile and wireless technologies.
Microsoft External Research collaborates with the world's foremost
researchers in academia, industry and government to move research in new
directions across nearly every field of computer science, engineering and
general science.
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