Page 23 - atoday

TECHNOLOGY A23
Wednesday 28 October

Oracle to build high school on its Silicon Valley campus

MICHAEL LIEDTKE
AP Technology Writer
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) —
Oracle founder Larry Ellison
already owns an island in
Hawaii. Now, his company
is building a high school
next to its Silicon Valley
headquarters to help fulfill
Ellison’s desire to teach stu-
dents more about technol-
ogy and problem-solving.
The plan unveiled Tues-
day at an Oracle cus-
tomer conference calls
for the business software
maker to complete the
64,000-square-foot school
by August 2017.

Although it will be owned This June 18, 2012 file photo, shoes the Oracle headquarters in Redwood City, Calif. Oracle founder Larry Ellison already owns an
by one of the world’s big- island in Hawaii.
gest technology compa-
nies, the school isn’t going Associated Press
to be called “Oracle High.”
Instead, it will be known as 38 years ago, Ellison has ing how much it expects to Larry’s vision for a unique one of Silicon Valley’s few
Design Tech, or “d.tech,” amassed an estimated for- spend. high school founded on least affluent communities,
a public school approved tune of $54 billion that has Oracle co-CEO Safra principles we believe in: in- East Palo Alto. The Primary
last year. enabled him to buy most of Catz stressed the com- novation, creativity, prob- School will provide health
The campus being built by the Hawaiian island of La- pany wouldn’t be getting lem-solving and design- care services in addition to
Oracle will accommodate nai, own elaborate homes involved if Ellison hadn’t thinking,” Catz said. educational instruction for
up to 550 students and 30 around the world and sketched out a vision to Oracle’s commitment to up to 700 students.
teachers in the shadow of bankroll two victories in create a school where “stu- Design Tech comes less Zuckerberg and Chan also
Oracle’s towering office in sailing’s premier race, the dents learn to think.” than a week after Face- have given $100 million to
Redwood Shores, Califor- America’s Cup. Although Oracle will own book’s billionaire CEO Mark schools in New Jersey and
nia, about 25 miles south of the high school, the com- Zuckerberg, and his wife, pledged to donate an-
San Francisco. The school But Ellison isn’t financing pany won’t be involved in Priscilla Chan, announced other $120 million to other
will be free and open to Design Tech. Oracle is foot- the curriculum. Design Tech plans to finance a school schools located in low-in-
any student living in Califor- ing the entire bill, though gained Oracle’s financial for pre-school through come communities in the
nia. the company isn’t disclos- support because it “reflects eighth-grade students in San Francisco Bay Area.q
Since starting Oracle Corp.

European leaders look to
boost financing for startups

PARIS (AP) — The leaders of France, Ger- the Elysee palace in Paris on Tuesday. A reporter takes a picture of German Chancellor Angela Merkel
many and the European Union’s execu- Juncker has made the development of and French President Francois Hollande at a press conference
tive body have praised new partnerships a European digital market a priority of his ending the France Germany Online Conference at the Elysee
between private, public and European leadership of the Commission, the EU’s ex- Palace in Paris, Tuesday, Oct, 27, 2015.
funds to improve access to financing for ecutive branch. Hollande and Merkel are
startups in an effort to boost the digital looking to push the idea forward as EU Associated Press
economy across the continent. member states remain divided over pro-
French President Francois Hollande, Ger- posed reforms of copyright and data pro-
man Chancellor Angela Merkel and Euro- tection laws. “Our goal is to make from the
pean Commission President Jean-Claude (European) interior market a digital mar-
Juncker met with online entrepreneurs at ket, so that we can be competitive in the
a conference on the digital economy at global competition”, Merkel said.q