Blue Prism Announces Pioneering Global Academia Program with the University of Manchester

LONDON and AUSTIN, Texas, April 9, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Staying true to their vision of building authentic, enterprise grade software, Blue Prism (AIM: PRSM), the pioneer in Robotic Process Automation (RPA), has today launched its Global Academia Program, to empower students with the skills they need to participate in and shape the future of work.

The company announced the program launch with its first academic partner, the University of Manchester. Through this global program, Blue Prism is making RPA software and comprehensive training and educational materials available to the world's higher education institutions.

"Since we invented RPA in 2001, we have stayed true to our compass of delivering an authentic, enterprise grade RPA solution. The demand for cognitive automation and RPA solutions is being felt across the globe," said David Moss, CTO and co-founder of Blue Prism. "Our vision has always been broader and that is to share our technology with a growing network of educational partners, to ensure that we are building talent for the present and future. I'm also excited that the University, which boasts the legacy of Alan Turing, and other ground-breaking computer science firsts, has expressed a strong interest in working with us to shape the future of work." 

Birthplace of the First Stored-Program Computer Takes on RPA
As the program's first partner, the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom will have access to Blue Prism's Digital Workforce solution, enabling computer science students to build out RPA projects at global scale. The public university is the birthplace of the world's first stored-program computer and includes 25 Nobel laureates among its past and present students and staff. Alan Turing, considered to be the father of modern computing and artificial intelligence worked at the university between 1948-1954.

"We're known around the world for the quality of our teaching and because all our courses are created with students' employability in mind," said Gavin Brown, Director of Research, School of Computer Science for the University of Manchester. "Partnering with Blue Prism and offering their platform within the University of Manchester underscores our commitment to leveraging this technology in research projects with cutting-edge new AI technology, and to provide real-world challenges for our staff and students."

"Our vision is to empower future leaders who will shape the digital transformation journey. We are already seeing RPA embraced in the education community among Blue Prism affiliated academics at MIT and the London School of Economics," said Alastair Bathgate, CEO and co-founder of Blue Prism. "The Blue Prism Global Academia Program will accelerate the adoption of automation and the convergence of the future of both education and work."

A Growing Program with Global Reach
All universities and colleges that are interested in joining must apply to take advantage of this program. Once accepted, the institution will receive access to the Blue Prism RPA platform, an annual educational software license and a Blue Prism Autonomous Training Kit (ATK), which contains the Developer Foundation Training used by the company's customers and partners. Both the training and the platform will be accessible through the university's network to be used for educational purposes.

Participating educational institutions can opt to deliver the self-guided Foundation Training course – which takes 20-30 hours to complete – as a self-learning opportunity, or craft it into an instructor-led classroom program. All teachers and students can register through the Blue Prism portal to gain access to additional resources including templates, advanced accreditation options, and a development guide library.

Blue Prism recently attained the highest customer satisfaction rating of 96 percent in an independent customer survey by Knowledge Capital Partners (click here to download report). The survey researched more than 100 Blue Prism deployments globally, evaluating key criteria such as platform adaptability, scalability, security and employee satisfaction.

"It is very commendable of Blue Prism to make this proven RPA technology freely available to the world's academic institutions," says professor Leslie Willcocks from the London School of Economics, and one of the survey authors. "The company is seeding the next generation of innovators, disruptors and digital business leaders."

Leslie Willcocks and Mary Lacity, professor of information systems at the University of Missouri and visiting scholar at MIT Center of Information Systems Research, are also authors of three key texts on service automation, the latest being Robotic and Cognitive Automation: The Next Phase (www.sbpublishing.org).

In 2017, Blue Prism was named one of MIT Tech Review's 50 Smartest Companies, as well as being the winner of the 2017 UK Tech awards. The company was also acknowledged by Everest Research as an RPA market leader in their PEAK Matrix Assessment report in 2018. Over the past year, the company added several established brands to its roster of clients including AIG, Alberta Treasury Bureau, Allstate Insurance, Bechtel, Boeing, DeNA, DTE Energy, Dun & Bradstreet, Ericsson, Fannie Mae, GIC, Honda Motor Company, Kaiser Permanente, KBL Bank, Maybank, National Grid, Schroders, Sony Pictures, United Utilities and Walgreens.

For more details on the program and information on how to apply, visit the Blue Prism Academia Program web page or send an inquiry email to [email protected].

About Blue Prism
As the pioneer, innovator and market leader in Robotic Process Automation (RPA), Blue Prism delivers the world's most successful Digital Workforce. The company's software robots automate repetitive administrative tasks while meeting the requirements of the most demanding IT environments, where security, compliance and scalability are paramount.

Blue Prism provides a scalable and robust execution platform for best-of-breed AI and cognitive technologies and has emerged as the trusted and secure RPA platform of choice for the Fortune 500. Billions of transactions and hundreds of millions of hours of work are executed on Blue Prism robots from renowned companies including Aegon, BNY Mellon, Commerzbank, IBM, ING, Maersk, Nokia, Nordea, Procter & Gamble, Raiffeisen Bank, Siemens, Westpac and Zurich. For more information about Blue Prism (AIM: PRSM), visit www.blueprism.com and follow the company on LinkedIn and Twitter.

SOURCE Blue Prism

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