Canadian Student Wins Worldwide Competition for Microsoft Office Word 2007
Emily Daubert showcases top proficiency of Office application against largest field of competitors in final round of Worldwide Competition on Microsoft Office
PARK CITY, UT (Worldwide Competition on Microsoft Office) – August 12, 2010
Certiport (www.certiport.com), the leading certification solution provider for the global workforce and academic markets, and CCI Learning Solutions Inc. (www.ccilearning.com), announced today that Emily Daubert from SAIT Polytechnic won this year's World Champion in Microsoft Office Word 2007, culminating the most popular global technology skills competition on Microsoft Office to date.
The 2010 Worldwide Competition on Microsoft Office attracted more than 115,000 unique candidates from 54 countries who competed to prove their Microsoft Office expertise. Certiport recognized Daubert at ceremonies in Park City, Utah, where 51 country winners competed in the championship round for a grand prize scholarship fund of $6,500.
"When they called out my name at the competition, I was ecstatic," said Emily Daubert, 2010 World Champion for Microsoft Office Word 2007. "I am the first person from Canada to win this competition, and was supported by those around me who kept telling me I could do this, it was not impossible."
"Emily and her classmates worked very hard over the last two years to master the skills necessary to be successful with the Microsoft Office Specialist certification," said Janine Violini, SAIT Polytechnic Instructor." We were thrilled to have Emily win the national championship, but her World Championship has made us realize the skill set of our graduates is second-to-none. Our graduates will use the Microsoft Office suite daily in their careers and their level of productivity will significantly benefit their employers."
All 51 student finalists received an all-expense paid trip to Utah for the Worldwide Competition. In the final round, Word competitors participated in timed unique tests to demonstrate their ability to create, customize and organize documents using formatting and visual content appropriate for the information presented in Microsoft Word.
"Clearly, these students have demonstrated the foresight and discipline to invest in acquiring the certified skills for Microsoft Office that enable them to enter the workforce prepared to succeed,” said Takeshi Numoto, Corporate Vice President, Office Product Management Group, Microsoft. "To stand out amongst the ever increasing expectations for higher productivity in the workplace and in today’s always-on culture, it is essential that students master the technologies that businesses depend on, and this event gives students a platform to showcase their preparedness to become valuable assets in any organization.”
"With more than 9 million beta downloads, the Office 2010 has seen the strongest launch momentum in Office’s history, I am looking forward to next year’s competition to see who has come up to speed and mastered the new Microsoft Office Specialist 2010 exams,” Numoto added.
Certiport's Worldwide Competition on Microsoft Office has grown steadily since its inauguration and the number of exams entered worldwide doubled over last year. Honoring the important role that certification plays in the standards and assessment community, this student competition helps validate that students have the expertise needed to compete in the global workforce.
"ICT skills are increasingly important as we continue to close the skills gap in Canada," said Malcolm Knox, CCI Learning Solutions Inc. "As we leave the economic reset, Emily has shown the world that she is an example of Canada's commitment to improving desktop application skills certified by the Microsoft Office Specialist certification program."
“It has been exciting to continue to watch Certiport and CCI Learning Solutions lead the industry in providing high technology training and certification programs to academic entities worldwide," said Ray Kelly, Chief Executive Officer, Certiport. "We are proud to be Microsoft’s only worldwide partner for the Microsoft Office Specialist exams and are delighted to see it become the largest IT certification program in the world this year. By offering the MOS certification, CCI Learning helps students build their resumes and acquire desirable workforce skills. I congratulate them both on their success."
Preview and download quality photos of this year's winners, along with images of the student awards ceremony at: www.flickr.com/photos/certiport.
Pictured (L-R): Marguerite Caunt – Editor, CCI Learning Solutions Inc.
Janine Violini –Instructor, AIM Program SAIT (Southern Alberta Institute of Technology)
Carolina Cayaffa – Regional Account Manager, CCI Learning Solutions Inc.
Vanessa Hatchard – Vice President, CCI Learning Solutions Inc.
Malcolm Knox – Vice President, CCI Learning Solutions Inc.
Takeshi Numoto – Corporate Vice President, Office Product Management Group, Microsoft
Emily Daubert – World Champion in Microsoft Office Word 2007
Ray Kelly - Chief Executive Officer, Certiport
Bruce M. Hernandez – Chairman of Certiport Inc. - Spire Capital
Ian Caunt – President and CEO, CCI Learning Solutions Inc.
ABOUT CCI LEARNING SOLUTIONS INC.
CCI Learning Solutions is the Canadian Certiport Solution Provider for Microsoft Office Specialist and Microsoft Technology Associate Certification programs, offering complete solutions for teaching and validating essential skills needed in today's workplace. CCI Learning Solutions also sponsors Canada’s entry into the Microsoft Office World Wide Competition. For more information, please visit www.ccilearning.com or follow CCI on Twitter at http://twitter.com/ccilearning.
ABOUT CERTIPORT
Certiport is the leading provider of certification exam development, delivery and program management services which include practice tests via MeasureUp® delivered through an expansive network of over 10,000 Certiport Authorized Testing Centers worldwide. Certiport manages a sophisticated portfolio of leading certification programs including: the official Microsoft® Office certification program, the Adobe® Certified Associate certification program, the iCritical Thinking™ Certification powered by ETS, the CompTIA Strata™ IT Fundamentals and the Internet and Computing Core Certification (IC³®). Certiport reliably delivers over two million tests each year throughout the secondary, post-secondary, workforce and corporate technology markets in more than 142 countries and 24 languages worldwide.
"Certiport," "IC³" and "MeasureUp" are registered trademarks of Certiport, Inc. in the United States and other countries. "Microsoft" is either a registered trademark or trademark of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and other countries. The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.
Press Contacts:
Brenda Armstrong Alanna Clark
Certiport CCI Learning Solutions Inc.
1.801.602.0305 1.800.668.1669
barmstrong@certiport.com aclark@ccilearning.com