Intel highlights merits of tech education

Largest semi conductor, Intel Corporation, has reiterated the strategic value of technology in educational development of any country, saying it is committed to Teach-Pre-Service programme recently launched.

The company also described these values as highly necessary toward raising the standard of education in Nigeria to a world class standard.

Country Manager, Intel Sub Sahara Africa, Devan Naidoo, said that it is necessary to consolidate on plans and series of activities in progress to permanently include the ‘teach pre-service’ programme into the nation’s teachers college curriculum.

This, he said, would enable thousands of Nigerian teachers in training to gain sound proficiency on use of Information Technology (IT) tools before graduation.

The Intel ‘teach pre-service’ programme, he noted was specially designed to equip teachers with computer proficiency while still in college and is also partnering in a train the trainers cascading order.

Additionally, he said, this would empower student-teachers to have acquired real-time IT skills and capability upon graduation from college, thereby speeding up target to train 150,000 teachers on proficient use of computer by the year 2012.

“Intel has launched the Teach Pre-Service programme in Nigeria and is seriously committed to key-in the program into the teacher training curriculum at the colleges of education where teachers will be taught how to teach learners using the online content available to them through the programme,” he said.

Intel, he said, is collaborating with stakeholders to take the programme to all the colleges, believing it will fast track Information and Technology growth which could tremendously impart the educational system for good.

Meanwhile, graphics chipmaker Nvidia recently countersued Intel for breach of contract, alleging that Intel made misleading statements designed to undermine Nvidia’s licensing rights.

The suit seeks to terminate Intel’s license to Nvidia’s patents related to graphics processing and three-dimensional computing and comes in response to a related suit by Intel last month.

Nvidia believes that without a licensing agreement, Intel’s line of integrated graphics chips violate Nvidia’s patent portfolio, according to Nvidia spokesman Hector Marinez.

The complaint represents the latest salvo in an escalating feud between the two chipmakers that has moved from the marketplace to the courtroom.

Intel asked a Delaware court in February to rule that its new generation of microprocessors, such as the Nehalem chip, are not covered under a 2004 cross-licensing agreement between the two companies.

That would prevent Nvidia from selling its chipsets that function alongside Intel’s new microprocessors.

Intel is the world’s number-one maker of PC microprocessors, with a more than 80 per cent market share, according to IDC.

In its countersuit, Nvidia said Intel has “manufactured” the licensing dispute as part of a “calculated strategy to eliminate Nvidia as a competitive threat”, and says it is fully licensed to continue making products that interact with Intel microprocessors.

The disagreement stems from the fact that Intel’s new generation of Nehalem microprocessors feature an integrated memory controller.

According to Intel, the 2004 licensing agreement only covers its previous generation of products, in which the memory controller was separate from the microprocessor.

“There is a substantial disagreement between Intel and Nvidia about their licensing rights under the agreement,” said Intel spokesman Chuck Mulloy.

“We’ve been trying multiple times, multiple ways to find a way to settle the argument,” Mulloy said. The suit simply asks the court to interpret the agreement, he said.

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