Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer announced on May 19 they had signed an agreement to boost digital literacy and competitiveness in Hungary.
The 10-billion-forint (US$ 60 million) program, known as TITAN, will be primarily funded by the EU and co-financed by Microsoft. TITAN, which will run from 2009 until 2012, will aim to improve the digital literacy of small- and medium-sized enterprises, introduce computer education in primary schools and tackle the shortage of IT professionals in Hungary where 60% of the population is still digitally illiterate.
Further supporters of the program include Cisco, HP, Intel, Magyar Telekom and the Hungarian Association of Information Technology Companies.
The program should reach one million people in two years, the chairman of Hungarian parliament's IT and Telecommunication Subcommittee Peter Marfai said.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2008
