HOUSTON<\/strong> \u2014 Aug. 24, 2020 \u2014<\/strong> Mayor Sylvester Turner announced on Monday that the city of Houston has expanded its groundbreaking digital alliance with Microsoft to innovate in big data, artificial intelligence and the digital economy. Microsoft brings to Houston \u201cAccelerate,\u201d a new program designed to address economic recovery through skilling both underserved communities and re-skilling the many Americans impacted by COVID-19.<\/p>\n The collaboration is intended to create new economic opportunity, close equity and digital skills gaps, and prepare a workforce for the 21st century.<\/p>\n \u201cMicrosoft launched the Accelerate program at a time when closing the digital divide has never been more important,\u201d said Kate Johnson, president of Microsoft U.S. \u201cWe\u2019re thrilled to be joining Mayor Turner and an impressive group of partners in this effort to expand access to in-demand digital skills\u2014and<\/span> close digital skills gaps widened by COVID-19\u2014through<\/span> Accelerate: Houston.\u201d<\/p>\n The mayor was joined by Jacky Wright, chief digital officer, Microsoft U.S., to announce details of the Houston Innovation Alliance and Accelerate: Houston. Other partners supporting the alliance include The Ion, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Kino-Eye Center, Upskill Houston, University of Houston College of Technology and Space Center Houston.<\/p>\n \u201cMore than two years ago, I announced our first transformative alliance with Microsoft \u2014 the first of its kind in the United States,\u201d said Mayor Sylvester Turner. \u201cToday, I am pleased to say we are taking another leap toward strengthening Houston\u2019s global standing as a center for innovation and technology.\u201d<\/p>\n Through coordination with corporate partners, K-12 school systems and higher education providers, Microsoft is developing a holistic plan for professional development\/support and addressing the equity gap across the community:<\/p>\n \u201cThe University of Houston College of Technology and Microsoft are together providing students, professionals, businesses, and the Houston community with the resources to manage, create, communicate, and commercialize meaningfully unique opportunities,\u201d said Dean Anthony Ambler, University of Houston College of Technology. \u201cAs game changers, the College of Technology and Microsoft transcend beyond the classroom with industry-recognized certifications, workshops, and degree programs that support workforce creation and upskilling while reinforcing a culture of innovation. These complementing activities champion the Houston community as adept practitioners and mentors in proven disciplines that apply ingenuity and technology to solve problems, improve lives, and enhance the economy.\u201d<\/p>\n Through their joint efforts, Microsoft and the city of Houston will work to advance civic innovation and smart city initiatives, economic development and recovery, and digital skilling for workforce and youth.<\/p>\n \u201cOur initial alliance with Microsoft, established in 2018, created the foundation for Houston to grow as a smart city. It brought startup innovation to city challenges through The Ion Smart City Accelerator, proved out cases for the use of IoT and AI to make our city safer and more resilient, and provided equitable access to technology through digital literacy, upskilling programs and Wi-Fi on public transit,\u201d said Jesse Bounds, innovation director for the city of Houston. \u201cThis expansion will continue to build upon this foundation the skills, processes and technologies needed to drive future growth and equitable prosperity in the city and position Houston to be a shining example to others across the globe.\u201d<\/p>\n To help accelerate the integration of technology and implement the vision to make Houston a center of excellence for innovation in energy transition, AI, IoT and data science, Microsoft is investing more than $1 million into programs that support social entrepreneurship and other initiatives in partnership with Houston\u2019s Innovation District at The Ion.<\/p>\n \u201cWith this digital alliance, one of history\u2019s most important and innovative technology companies becomes a key pillar of The Ion,\u201d said David Leebron, president, Rice University. \u201cMicrosoft will help implement the vision to make Houston\u2019s new innovation district a focal point for the future of energy, artificial intelligence, data science and smart cities.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAs a founding partner of The Ion Smart and Resilient Cities Accelerator, Microsoft has already established a close collaboration with The Ion, supporting startups as they develop and scale their businesses and pursue pilot opportunities with the city of Houston,\u201d said Jan E. Odegard, The Ion\u2019s interim executive director. \u201cIn addition to supporting entrepreneurs solving challenges like mobility, clean-tech, air quality and water purification, we are excited to expand our partnership with Microsoft as part of this digital alliance with the city of Houston to include access to resources that allow us to offer more robust workforce development initiatives on-site at The Ion\u2019s new space.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHouston is home to some of the world\u2019s most important medical breakthroughs, and as the Energy Capital of the World, we\u2019re leading the energy transition into a more sustainable future,\u201d said Mayor Turner. \u201cMicrosoft shares my vision to make Houston the Smart City of the future and a leader among U.S. cities as we develop excellence in innovation, AI and digital equity.\u201d<\/p>\n Accelerate: Houston is the latest U.S. implementation of Microsoft\u2019s Global Skills Initiative, an ambitious plan to help 25 million people worldwide acquire new digital skills by the end of the year.<\/p>\n More information can be found at https:\/\/aka.ms\/AccelerateHouston<\/a>.<\/p>\n Microsoft (Nasdaq \u201cMSFT\u201d @microsoft) enables digital transformation for the era of an intelligent cloud and an intelligent edge. Its mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.<\/p>\n For more information, press only:<\/strong><\/p>\n Microsoft Media Relations, WE Communications for Microsoft, (425) 638-7777, rrt@we-worldwide.com<\/a><\/p>\n Mary Benton, director of communications, city of Houston, (832) 393-0830 (office), (713) 208-6229 (mobile), Mary.Benton@houstontx.gov<\/a><\/p>\n Ada Ortega, press secretary, city of Houston, (832) 393-0800 (office), (832) 547-3240 (mobile), Note to editors: <\/em>For more information, news and perspectives from Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft News Center at http:\/\/news.microsoft.com<\/a>. Web links, telephone numbers and titles were correct at time of publication, but may have changed. For additional assistance, journalists and analysts may contact Microsoft\u2019s Rapid Response Team or other appropriate contacts listed at https:\/\/news.microsoft.com\/microsoft-public-relations-contacts<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Tech company will invest in workforce development as part of \u201caccelerate\u201d initiative and support Houston\u2019s innovation district at The Ion HOUSTON \u2014 Aug. 24, 2020 \u2014 Mayor Sylvester Turner announced on Monday that the city of Houston has expanded its groundbreaking digital alliance with Microsoft to innovate in big data, artificial intelligence and the digital […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[946,1139,112,1057],"class_list":["post-117126","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-microsoft-news","tag-covid-19","tag-global-skills-initiative","tag-press-releases","tag-skills"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117126","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=117126"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117126\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=117126"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=117126"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=117126"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
Ada.Ortega@houstontx.gov<\/a><\/p>\n