BlackBerry Academic Program Empowers the Next Generation of Mobile Apps Developers in the Philippines

Research In Motion (RIM), the maker of BlackBerry® smartphones, has recently extended the BlackBerry® Academic Program (BAP) to the Philippines. The program provides curriculum and other resources to help students gain further knowledge of concepts related to mobile computing such as networks, spectrum, efficient use of battery life and mobile application development. Its aim is to bring new opportunities and industry relevant mobile computing curriculum that will prepare students for the wireless world. The program is now available to institutions across the country including De La Salle University, Gordon College, and University of Santo Tomas, joining nearly 700 institutions in more than 113 countries.

By participating in the program, universities have access to materials to train students in the essentials of mobile application development on the BlackBerry platform as well as the administration and support of BlackBerry technologies in an enterprise environment. Through BAP partnerships, RIM provides learning materials, devices, software and other resources that reflect the most current technological trends. BlackBerry smartphones and BlackBerry® PlayBook™ tablets are provided to facilitate a vital hands-on learning experience. “Filipinos are a very important part of our global developer community so we are very excited to extend the BlackBerry Academic Program to the Philippines,” said Hastings Singh, Managing Director of South Asia at RIM.  “Today, staff and students in institutions across the Philippines are using BlackBerry academic resources to prepare students embarking on careers and starting businesses in the fast growing mobile computing sector. We want to support the future generation of mobile software developers in this country and we invite more universities in the Philippines to become part of this global network.”

The BlackBerry Academic Program, which is available for free to tertiary institutions and students throughout the Philippines and around the world, gives educators access to the latest teaching resources and BlackBerry technologies, equipping students with the knowledge and practical hands-on experience to enhance their development skills and create apps. John G. Bibal II, the co-founding member of the pinoyBBDev group and strong proponent for the BlackBerry Academic Program said, “The mobile market, specifically app development, presents infinite opportunities for the future generation of the Philippines.  The BlackBerry Academic Program helps universities equip students with new skills and knowledge that will enable them to take advantage of the local and global opportunities available on the BlackBerry platform.”

Erlinda C. Abarintos, Dean, College of Computer Studies, Gordon College said, “BlackBerry Academic Program provides a lot of benefits not only to the students but to the faculty, school administration and the entire community. It has moved us closer to the power and potential of mobile computing.”

Students at a number of universities in the Philippines are already benefiting from access to the tools and resources of BlackBerry Academic Program through the web, including individuals at universities Ateneo de Manila, De La Salle University and University of Philippines.  In addition a large number of independent students are making use of program’s resources for the purpose of self-study. 

The BlackBerry platform has become one of the most profitable platforms for mobile developers, with an opportunity to reach 80 million BlackBerry customers globally.  According to Vision Mobile, BlackBerry apps generate 40% more revenue than Android apps.

In addition to the BlackBerry Academic Program, RIM is already supporting the Philippine developer community in a number of ways.  Recently, RIM brought the BlackBerry® JamHack to Manila, where over 28 teams of professional developers, student teams, and BlackBerry enthusiasts, were given 40 hours to conceptualize and build a working application for the BlackBerry 10 platform.

Philippine developers are already successfully creating local apps and content on the BlackBerry platform, which are available on BlackBerry World. These include MMDA for BlackBerry, which gives users the latest information on the traffic situation in Metro Manila;  Meralco AppCal by Meralco, which allows you to calculate your monthly electricity usage and is updated monthly with the latest power rates; and  Deal Detector, which gives information on the great offers and deals in town.

For more information on how students and institutions can enroll in the program, please visit www.blackberry.com/academic

For examples of BlackBerry Academic Program success stories including Gordon College’s story, please visit:  http://us.blackberry.com/ataglance/academic/faculty/

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