In 2014, Algebra has achieved one of the greatest successes in its 16 years of existence. Algebra was proclaimed the world’s best Learning Partner by Microsoft in the competition of 3,200 organizations that have nominated their projects and achievements for the Partner of the Year Award.

The award was presented to Algebra CEO Tomislav Dominković by Phil Sorgen, corporate vice president of Microsoft, at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference in Washington, US. In each category, including the category of education, Microsoft awards only one such award per year and the success was even greater because this was the first time that the award in this category went to one of the smallest countries.
The Algebra group which consists of Algebra Open University and Algebra University was the winner in the category “Learning” as part of Microsoft Partner of the Year Awards 2014.

Despite fierce competition of innovative projects submitted by partners from all around the world, Algebra’s innovative project “My First Microsoft Certificate” was declared the best project in the segment of education. The project was developed by Algebra, implemented for high school and college students and included curriculum development, informing and motivating of students, implementing classes through online preparation, qualifications, practice tests and certification exams. This is the first time in history of Partner of the Year Awards that the award given in the segment of education went to a partner from a really small country. It should be noted that among 46 categories of the Award, there was only one related to education (others were related to specific Microsoft products and other competences in partner channels) with only one main award in each category. “This prestigious award, by which we acknowledge the winners, is a proof of the value of professionals in the sector of technology and of values that can be offered by our ecosystem”, said Phil Sorgen, corporate vice president of Microsoft. “The awards confirm competences and successes of our top partners which solve complex business tasks and challenges to the satisfaction of our mutual customers. Congratulations to each winner on this incredible achievement”, said Sorgen.

Tomislav Dominković, Algebra CEO, described the value of the award with the following words: “The award for the world’s best partner in the field of education confirms that the whole Algebra group has the right orientation towards “the creation of digital future” and “future without boundaries,” which are the main guiding principles used by Algebra group members in order to encourage individuals to acquire new digital skills in professional IT and business, considering them important for personal development and advancement of individuals as well as for the progress of the economy for which the ICT sector is strategically crucial. The project we nominated for this award, which ultimately proved to be the best in the world, has been conducted with continuity in order to bring the perspective offered by IT professions closer to the young people and allow them to acquire as soon as possible some of the key skills and certificates that can be demonstrated to future employers. For us, as representatives of the management, this is a confirmation that it is possible to achieve top world level results out of Croatia only by having knowledge, courage and self-confidence. With this award we proved that, with a dose of innovation that Croatia still possesses, it is possible to stand side by side with world leaders and thus realize our own visions and dreams.”

“This is a great success and an incredibly important recognition for Algebra, but it must be emphasized that this is also a recognition for the Croatian ICT sector and Croatian technological education”, added Hrvoje Balen, member of Algebra management board and national coordinator of this year’s European initiative eSkills for Jobs initiated by the European commission. “The fact that we have been given the award for the best project in global competition and that we are part of the prestigious company of the world’s top IT institutions, additional y positions Croatia on the global IT scene, taken into account that the quality of technological education is one of the crucial factors when deciding to initiate IT operations in a certain country”.

The winning project is a part of the pan-European initiative “eSkills for Jobs 2014” which aims to emphasize the importance of ICT professions and digital skills through year-round activities. Given that this project is carried out under special attention of the European Commission, its vice-president Neelie Kroes, 30 national organizations and more than 1,500 partners, this recognition strongly echoed in EU circles. In the finals, Algebra has, as the only representative of the European Union, defeated the leading technological educational institutions from the US, India and Australia.
The global list of awarded companies included in this year’s Partner of the Year Awards can be found in the following Microsoft press release: http://news.microsoft.com/2014/05/27/microsoft-announces-2014-partner-of-the-year-winners-and-finalists/