Mr. Matt Thompson , Director of Technology Outreach and Open Source Programs of Sun Microsystems, in his speech, stressed his vision for Philippines to be the next big thing in technology specifically on Java.  He said that he supports the local IT industry's aim for Philippines to be the next Technology Hub in Asia.  He also added that IT educators play a significant role in the whole ecosystem of the IT economy in the Philippines that is why he challenged everyone to step up and be counted! 

Thompson added that he sees the huge potential of IT in the Philippines and believe that through Java  technology, Filipinos can be the Java machinery in the world who supply technology leaders that will contribute to great projects and innovations not just in the Philippines but around the world.  He committed to provide not only more workstations and Java books to schools, but also his time, knowledge and dedication to help the Java & JEDI community grow.

JEDI is a collaborative project that aims to make high-quality, industry-endorsed IT and Computer Science course material available for free to universities and colleges in the Philippines. The course material is developed with inputs from industry and conforms to international education standards and the requirements of the Commission on Higher Education. JEDI materials and resources are developed, used and enhanced in a collaborative environment using java.net.

To date, JEDI member schools total 90 colleges and universities with more than 200 teachers trained and approximately 21,000 potential students using the JEDI courseware.

JEDI is a project of Sun Microsystems, Inc. through the University of the Philippines Java Research and Development Center and in partnership with the Philippine Society of IT Educators and various groups from the Industry Sector.

For more information about JEDI log-on  to http://jedi.up.edu.ph