In Spain, Hundreds of Thousand of Students Get Ubuntu Access

Canonical has been very busy raising the profile of Ubuntu internationally for a couple of years now. As we've reported, Dell Computer has been a significant partner in this effort, helping get PCs pre-loaded with Ubuntu into the hands of users in India and China. Jane Silber, Canonical CEO, has discussed the companies' plans to bring Ubuntu systems to 850 retail outlets in India. Now, Canonical is making a big push into the educational system in, of all places, Spain. There, 220,000 Ubuntu-based systems are being deployed for students.

Isotrol, a Spanish technology and engineering company, implemented 220,000 Ubuntu-based workstations in more than 2,000 schools in Andalusia, at the request of the Andalusian Regional Government. According to a post from Canonical:

"Used by 600,000 students and 75,000 teachers, the Ubuntu-based operating system, Guadalinex EDU, is now an accepted standard in schools throughout the region. By the end of the And@redproject in 2012, 4,000 schools, around 1.5 million students and nearly 200,000 teachers will be using Guadalinex every day.

Rafael Garcia Rivas, Director of Advanced Management Centre, Junta de Andalucia says, 'Teachers and students throughout Andalusia now have access to a stable and easy-to-use technology environment. They can find and share educational information more easily. And they can work on more innovative, interactive lessons with an improved IT infrastructure in place"

Canonical continues to pursue an interesting global strategy for seeding markets for Ubuntu-based computers. The company has an existing deal with Asus in Portugal, delivering PCs preloaded with Ubuntu there, and Canonical's deal with Dell in China is going strong. In fact, not long ago Canonical announced that it is expanding its Chinese program with Dell from 220 to 350 retail outlets--a significant expansion.

Moving into the educational market is a good way to familiarize students with Ubuntu. Look for Canonical to push into other educational markets around the world.