ITWORX Education recognized as a CityNext finalist in the 2016 Microsoft Partner of the Year Awards

 ITWORX Education, a Cairo-based ITWORX company backed by the EuroMena Fund, has been named a finalist in the 2016 Microsoft Partner of the Year Awards. It was recognized for providing an outstanding solution in the ‘Public Sector: CityNext’ category, based on its WinjiGo project for Syrian refugees, in the framework of addressing pressing challenges for cities and helping them do more with less.

Commenting on the company’s distinct achievement, Mr. Hatem Sallam, CEO of ITWORX Education, said:

“We believe that educated citizens are a necessity if cities are to become more competitive in global markets and foster the development of new business. However, we realize that not all cities have the financial capabilities or the proper infrastructure to sustain their long term plans for educated citizens. Studies revealed several challenges hinder the schooling of Syrian refugee children, including limited school capacities, transportation difficulties, curriculum and language differences, and inadequacy of teacher expertise. Using a blended learning model, we designed a complete solution, based on our social learning platform WinjiGo, to help cities tackle these problems.”

In September 2015, ITWORX Education ran a blended learning pilot at the Saad Nayel School in a refugee camp in Lebanon’s Zahle' District. “Being selected as a Finalist in the 2016 Microsoft Partner of the Year Awards is recognition of, not only our e-learning platform’s contribution to realizing a ‘school without borders’ experience for underserved communities across the globe, but also its ability to empower the government and community towards addressing the challenges and finding a way to turn these challenges into a sustainable advantage. Leveraging Microsoft platforms empowered us to roll out our solution quickly with limited cost, gaining the trust of various stakeholders. We are excited to work on our goal of scaling-up the impact to reach 7-10 times the number of children with the same budget,” continued Sallam.  

The company’s educational solution has broad market potential as it can be applied where children are in distress due to wars or natural disasters, which the company believes is an essential step in transforming cities around the world and helping them do more with less.

ITWORX Education’s efforts were recognized among a global field of Microsoft partners demonstrating excellence in innovation and implementation of customer solutions based on Microsoft technology. Awards were presented in several categories, with winners chosen from more than 2,500 entrants from 119 countries. 

Gavriella Schuster, General Manager, Worldwide Partner Group, Microsoft Corp, said:

“We are honored to recognize ITWORX Education as this year’s Finalist of the 2016 Microsoft Partner of the Year Award. ITWORX Education is a prime example of the excellent talent we see in our Microsoft partner community to deliver innovative and transformative solutions to our mutual customers.” 

The Microsoft Partner of the Year Awards recognize Microsoft partners that have developed and delivered exceptional Microsoft-based solutions during the past year.