Intel expands assistance to computer science education, supports White House Computer Science for All initiative

One year after President Barack Obama introduced the Computer Science for All initiative, the White House today announced new actions in support of computer science education and to kick off Computer Science Education Week. Monday’s disclosure included several Intel Corporation investments.

Intel has been long committed to diversifying the pipeline of available technical talent as part of its $300 million Diversity in Technology initiative. Intel’s investments are designed to increase the accessibility of computer science (CS) education to women as well as Native American high school and university students, in addition to creating a data-based approach to developing successful CS programs.

The company’s investments include:

• Intel will contribute $1 million to the Technology Pathways Initiative led by the Center for Advancing Women in Technology in collaboration with San Francisco State University, San José State University and the University of California at Berkeley. In addition to Intel, the Technology Pathway Initiative will be financed by KLA-Tencor Foundation and Salesforce. The initiative aims to increase participation of women in CS fields through the development in 2017 of new interdisciplinary degree programs at three pilot campuses.
• Intelwill finance the development of a culturally sensitive high school computer science curriculum for Native American students. It will also collaborate with the American Indian Science and Engineering Society to support 40 Native American university students a year for four years through financial support, opportunities to be mentored by industry experts at Intel and to apply for paid internships, and job offers upon successful graduation.
• Intel and other organizations, including 3M, CME Trust and Dell|EMC, will provide financial support to Mission Measurement to finance the creation of a CS and STEM Genome. It will collect, analyze and make information available on 400+ studies, encompassing 2,800+ CS and STEM program evaluations and 170,000+ data points to practitioners and policymakers around the world to design evidence-based CS initiatives and identify the features that make programs successful.