How can HP help young people in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) aim for success in the global economy?
Unemployment is most acute for the age group that represents our future. In the European Union alone over 13 percent of young people below the age of 24 were unemployed in 2007. Unemployment is even higher for young people in the emerging economies of Russia (17%), the Middle East (23%) and Africa (North Africa: 30 %; Sub-Sahara: 18 %). 1
HP’s answer is to empower these young people through GET-IT: a whole new kind of training that combines the basics of entrepreneurship with practical, hands-on experience in the use of technology. “GET-IT training opens up two fascinating worlds to our participants: the IT world and the world of entrepreneurship. For our underprivileged young people, it leads to a boost in self-confidence, creativity and much needed know-how,” said Erik Dauwen, Director of Teaching Entrepreneurship to Youth (NFTE) in Belgium.
GET-IT training consists of interactive courses that deal with practical IT solutions for daily business challenges. The core element is a curriculum called Technology Tools (T-Tools). Participating organisations receive HP equipment, the T-Tools Guidance course for their trainers and the T-Tools training materials – all available in local languages.
The T-Tools curriculum fills the gap between business and standard IT courses. The modules explore how different IT solutions can address common business challenges in the areas of Management and Operations, Finances, Communication and Marketing. The curriculum empowers students to evaluate their own skills and identify their own needs for further training and development.
The launch of a new portal in September 2008 is a GET-IT milestone. Young entrepreneurs are logging onto the site – www.get-it-city.net 
– for training and advice. The portal allows young people who don’t live close to a GET-IT training centre to tap into some of the content of the GET-IT course online, in a fun way.
Knowledge city is also the place to leap into ‘serious’ gaming. Players assume the role of an event manager, progressing through eight scenarios. In order to win, they must effectively cope with demanding clients and overcome a variety of IT security challenges to achieve a list of business goals within just ten minutes. The players gain points each time they successfully complete a task and can ‘spend’ them in a virtual shop on resources like security software.
With GET-IT, HP is responding to strong market demand for entrepreneurship training that recognises the role of small and medium businesses, and young people in the economies of EMEA countries. In the current global business environment, economic success depends more than ever on a supply of young entrepreneurs who know what to do with technology.
