BlackBerry Academy Program Announced by RIM

The 2009 BlackBerry Developer Conference kicked off today and there were plenty of announcements to talk about.  One of the big announcements RIM made was that they will be providing colleges and universities material to offer courses geared to help students learn and develop on the BlackBerry Platform. The curriculum is available for mobile application development, administration of BlackBerry Enterprise Server and support for BlackBerry smartphones. This is great news because I am currently an IT student myself and would love to learn how to develop programs for my BlackBerry.   The program is going to include:

• Mobile Application Development Courses- Students can learn about the tools and techniques for developing applications for BlackBerry smartphones.
• Administration Courses – Mobile communication and collaboration tools continue to play a large role in boosting the productivity of enterprise workforces, and the need for trained professionals to administer and support mobile solutions has grown with it.
• Support Courses- Students are trained to work in technical call centers or IT support environments in support of the BlackBerry solution. The Support courses also include information that can help prepare students for the corresponding BlackBerry Certification exa

Over 500 students have been participating in this program and it will be provided across the US and Canada.

More information on the BlackBerry Academic Program: www.blackberry.com/academic

Check out the press release:

Press Release

RIM Announces BlackBerry Academic Program

Program Provides Colleges and Universities with Curriculum and Course Content

BlackBerry Developer Conference 2009 – San Francisco, CA – Research In Motion (RIM) (Nasdaq: RIMM, TSX: RIM) today announced the BlackBerry® Academic Program to provide colleges and universities around the world with a curriculum and course content to offer courses in administering and supporting the BlackBerry® solution and developing for the BlackBerry platform.

“Career opportunities in information technology are abundant, and there is increasing demand for people with expertise in managing BlackBerry products and services and developing BlackBerry applications,” said Robert Crow, Vice President, Industry, Government and University Relations at Research In Motion. “Millions of people are using BlackBerry smartphones in more than 170 countries today and the BlackBerry Academic Program will help colleges and universities prepare students for careers in technology and help to meet the growing demand for BlackBerry developers, administrators and technical support professionals in the global marketplace.”

Course content is currently available for mobile application development for BlackBerry® smartphones, administration of BlackBerry® Enterprise Server, and support for BlackBerry smartphones. The curriculum has been developed in collaboration with academic professionals and has been in pilot for over a year.

Mobile Application Development Courses – Students can learn about the tools and techniques for developing applications for BlackBerry smartphones. Courses cover topics such as BlackBerry smartphone features and functionality, user interface design, multimedia application development, mobile web application development and Java® application development.

Administration Courses – Mobile communication and collaboration tools continue to play a large role in boosting the productivity of enterprise workforces, and the need for trained professionals to administer and support mobile solutions has grown with it. There are over 200,000 BlackBerry® Enterprise Server installations globally and trained professionals are needed to maintain and support these deployments.

Administration courses offered through the BlackBerry Academic Program can help prepare students to administer, configure, troubleshoot, and perform essential tasks for managing a BlackBerry Enterprise Server environment.

For example, the “Maintaining a BlackBerry Enterprise Server in a Microsoft Exchange Environment” (BCP-410) course includes information that can help prepare students for the corresponding BlackBerry Certification exam as well as additional information that can help students find opportunities in IT departments of large organizations.

Support Courses – Students are trained to work in technical call centers or IT support environments in support of the BlackBerry solution. The Support courses also include information that can help prepare students for the corresponding BlackBerry Certification exam.

The BlackBerry Academic Program provides an outline of the content for each course, as well as learning materials including student textbooks (with instructor copy), student lab manuals, instructor guides and an academic product suite that covers hardware and software. Course content can be offered over the full length of a semester, or as individual modules that can be integrated into an existing information technology curriculum.

Academic Program Rolls Out

Over 500 students have already taken courses based on the BlackBerry Academic Program as part of a pilot project and several universities in Canada and the US are now in the process of incorporating courses and course content from the program into their course offerings.

For more information:

BlackBerry Academic Program – www.blackberry.com/academic

BlackBerry application development – www.blackberry.com/developer

BlackBerry Certification Program – www.blackberry.com/certification

A special track supporting the BlackBerry Academic Program has also been added to the BlackBerry Developer Conference this year in San Francisco (November 9 – 12, 2009). More information is available at www.blackberrydeveloperconference.com.
About Research In Motion (RIM)

Research In Motion is a leading designer, manufacturer and marketer of innovative wireless solutions for the worldwide mobile communications market. Through the development of integrated hardware, software and services that support multiple wireless network standards, RIM provides platforms and solutions for seamless access to time-sensitive information including email, phone, SMS messaging, Internet and intranet-based applications. RIM technology also enables a broad array of third party developers and manufacturers to enhance their products and services with wireless connectivity. RIM’s portfolio of award-winning products, services and embedded technologies are used by thousands of organizations around the world and include the BlackBerry wireless platform, the RIM Wireless Handheld^TMproduct line, software development tools, radio-modems and software/hardware licensing agreements. Founded in 1984 and based in Waterloo, Ontario, RIM operates offices in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific. RIM is listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market (Nasdaq: RIMM) and the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: RIM). For more information, visit www.rim.com or www.blackberry.com.