Sun Heats Up the Education World
Sun Microsystems
(www.sun.com) has announced the Sun Technology and Academic Resources (STAR) initiative, bringing together several programs to reduce the cost and complexity of managing network systems for the education IT community. STAR consists of seven strategic programs that include academic-equipment grants, as well as centers of excellence that forge partner relationships between universities and a third party.
One of the latest programs to be added is the Global Education and Learning Community (GELC), which is a gathering place for Java technology-related researchers and educators. It provides a medium for sharing open-source educational tools, open-learning standards and implementations, and open-course learning materials. The GELC portal (http://community.java.net/edu-jelc) is the host site for the group’s initiatives, and currently features more than 130 projects initiated by the more than 900 members of the global community, representing 20 countries.
In addition, Sun is offering Internet2 (www.internet2.edu)
university members and affiliates a renewable annual subscription for nearly all of Sun’s software products. This enables members to more easily and affordably create a seamless, cost-effective digital campus. Sun has even gone a step further by agreeing to develop a Network of Expertise (N'E) initiative, which will feature online resource centers where IT administrators can access and collaborate on solutions as well as share best practices with member universities.