Global ICT giant Microsoft has organised an information technology workshop for Ghanaian students to motivate and help them develop applications that can be used to solve real life problems in Ghana and in African.

The initiative was aimed to expose students to Microsoft technologies such as Bing Search, Windows Phone 8, Windows 8, Windows Azure, Visual Studio and open source technology.

Addressing students at Ghana Technology University College in Accra, Mr Shina Oyetoso, Developer Platform Evangelist of Microsoft said Microsoft had initiatives such as Dream Spark, imagine cup, students to business, build your business programme and employability portals to equip students and start-ups.

According to him, the dream spark initiative gives students free access to Microsoft designer and developer tools helping to advance key technical skills.

With the initiative, he said, students can develop their own applications using Microsoft’s designer and developer tools.

“We are just exposing them [the students] to what Microsoft technologies are and what they do so they will be able develop applications using our technologies, so they can sell to make money for themselves,” Mr Oyetoso added.

He said Microsoft had a training programme designed to support aspiring and emerging entrepreneurs, adding that the initiative would provide the students with start-ups and skills to grow into becoming competitors in the industry.

On the students to business programme, he said the initiative would seek to match them with jobs or internships in the technology industry.

Mr Oyetoso tasked students to develop software and applications that could be adopted as powerful tools to boost economic growth and reduce poverty.

He expressed Microsoft’s commitment to use its technologies to help solve problems for sustainable growth on the African continent.