SAP University Alliances and the Interactive Design Foundation

SAP University Alliances and the Interactive Design Foundation

University Alliances is proud and excited to support the Interactive Design Foundation (IDF) and its’ Open Access Round the World Tour. The Interactive Design Foundation produces free, top-grade educational materials written by the world’s technology elite. Through free and open access to top-grade educational materials on how to design technology, they educate millions of technology designers on how to make technology more people-oriented and easy-to-use. This can include websites, household appliances, software applications, and mobile devices. For IDF, it’s a battle against frustrating, time-consuming, and poorly designed technology that drains our productivity, dignity, and sometimes our sanity. Their vision, shared by University Alliances, is that better design improves everyone’s quality of life. http://www.interaction-design.org/

Open Access Round the World Tour

SAP is the main sponsor for The Interaction Design Foundation and in 2013 we have made a commitment to giving every university student, every designer, and every corporate employee free access to top-grade educational materials. It doesn’t matter if you are New York or New Delhi – the IDF and SAP will literally bike around the world and distribute educational materials.

http://www.news-sap.com/sap-sponsorship-to-provide-free-textbooks-that-promote-simpler-software-design/

How – starting by crossing the U.S. and Canada from coast to coast on bike and in a canoe, The IDF will be meeting journalists, readers and key people at various universities (mostly SAP University Alliance partners), design companies and at local SAP offices. Depending on future funding the goal is to go all the way around the world on bike and in a canoe. Who – The IDF will be represented by Max and joined by Beatrix – and sometimes joined by The IDF Founders Mads and Rikke.

Biking around the world is a positive symbol – a symbol of giving open access to highly valuable educational material which is the core of the IDF mission. University Alliances mission is to provide access to cutting edge, dynamic technologies and thought leadership in design thinking used by tens of thousands of customers worldwide. It’s an obvious partnership and a very powerful collaboration. For further details download the presentation here:

https://scn.sap.com/docs/DOC-39155

The objective is to spread the word about The IDF educational materials and thus help raise the awareness of technology as a design sphere and as an area where design can be applied to great effect. To more designers we want to evangelise how better design of technology can produce products that are more efficient, productive, and pleasurable to use. The IDF biker will take the IDF’s open access e-books and distribute them throughout the world, kilometre by kilometre, city by city, university by university, company by company, newspaper by newspaper.

We want to promote equal access to education and sustainability by creating awareness of the open access educational project on best-practice design and associated learning opportunities while expanding the IDF and SAP network. Equal access to education is not only a problem of so-called 3rd world countries. Economic differences exist in societies all around the globe. To register for the Interactive Design Foundation Webinar please register here:

https://www.sap.com/campaign/ne/2013/12_event_ua_ng_influencer_sessions_dec31/index.epx?kNtBzmUK9zU

Sustainability

This is not only an awareness tour. Through global networking IDF shares free high standard educational material and meet prospective readers and authors. The human powered bike & canoe trip does not only spread out an encouraging idea, it also provides the tools for people to be able to make a change. The IDF and SAP partnership helps enhance equal rights to education. Education helps men and women explore their potential across economic, political and social arenas. It is also the single most powerful way to lift people out of poverty.

A very unique way to express the concept of sustainability in a very visual way is, to travel self supported on roads, trails and waterways by bike & canoe. This also represents global networking in a green and environmentally friendly way. Environmental sustainability is a key enterprise initiative at SAP where aiming to help the world run better and improve people’s lives is what we do.

The main transportation will be the bike, while the foldable canoe is carried on the trailer. The canoe is capable of holding 2 persons & 2 bikes including the entire gear. It will be used on lakes & rivers as a secondary transportation system.

University Alliances keeping track of the tour.

Throughout the tour right here on the University Alliances Community we will broadcast events which may include live feed from the GPS Headcam, it may include GPS coordinates on Googlemaps, it may include presentations and delivery of materials to those who want to engage with the tour or broadcasts and webcasts.

The feed will come straight to us on the University Alliances Landing Page and Media Hub so if you want to keep track of where Max and Beatrix are and how they are doing remember to pop back and visit us on www.uac.sap.com