Fujitsu Innovation Hub opens in Block H

The world’s first purpose-built computer centre, Block H on Bletchley Park, now hosts a Fujitsu Innovation Hub with the latest in classroom technologies as a result of a collaboration between Fujitsu UK, its partners: Intel, Brocade, and Kyocera Document Solutions, and The National Museum of Computing (TNMOC).

The Fujitsu Innovation Hub will have an immediate role in TNMOC’s acclaimed Learning Programme and enable students to directly compare and contrast technologies past and present. It will provide students and educators alike the opportunity to develop their digital skills, break down barriers to technology and enhance career prospects.

The Hub also offers great potential for structured and informal learning. It will be available to general visitors to the Museum and to corporates for team-building activities. Plans to use it as a regional community resource for households with limited access to technology and for ‘relaxed opening’ sessions in an autism-friendly environment are also being actively considered.

Ash Merchant, Director of Education at Fujitsu, said: “The National Museum of Computing is a unique and highly inspirational place, playing a major role in supporting the technology skills development of young people. We’re delighted that the museum is now part of our Education Ambassador Programme, and know that the passion they have for supporting young people will see that the Innovation Hub will support in making a real impact on teaching and learning outcomes – this is the vision that Fujitsu and our programme partners are committed to bringing to life by collaborating with institutions like the National Museum of Computing.”

The Hub, designed as a relaxing, colourful, stimulating and welcoming environment, contains an array of Fujitsu technology including tablets, hybrid devices, laptops and desktop PCs. These systems run on the latest Intel® Atom™ and Intel® Core™ processors to give users access to state-of the art personal computing.

Highlighting 2016 technologies, the Fujitsu Innovation Hub is right next to the famous TNMOC Classroom that houses BBC Microcomputer workstations, that represent the landmark schools’ computer literacy initiative of the 1980s, and under the same roof as the Rebuild of Colossus, the world’s first electronic computer, and a wide selection of other working computers showing the huge advances of computing over the past 70 years.

Margaret Sale, TNMOC Trustee, said: “To be selected from so many applicants to become a Fujitsu Innovation Hub is an honour and testament to the highly skilled and creative work of our Museum staff and volunteers. We are thrilled to take our place alongside educational establishments to partner with Fujitsu and Intel on the Education Ambassador programme to help develop digital skills of today’s students and educators. Our Learning Team, which greets 5,000 students in groups each year, has great ideas to utilise the space to best advantage.”

Tracey Rawling Church, Head of CSR at KYOCERA Document Solutions UK, said: “We’re proud to have been selected by Fujitsu as one of only three partners for this initiative, and to support in meeting its goal to establish 20 new Hubs in Ambassador organisations this year to inspire students and equip them with the practical skills and knowledge for the digital future ahead.

Amit Samani, Education Manager at Brocade said: “Brocade is dedicated to cultivating innovation and harvesting creative potential within students as a conduit to the changing network requirements and the new IOT era. On this programme we look forward to creating a platform for students to continue their journey through technology while creating ambassadors for the digital future.”

TNMOC warmly thanks all the main sponsors as well as Epson (UK) and other contributors who have helped make the Hub such an inviting and stimulating environment in such an historic location.

Notes To Editors

What the partners bring to the development of the Innovation Hub at TNMOC

Fujitsu: Our Education Ambassador Programme is about finding a way to bring the passion that is prevalent in the learning environment to the passion we hold for technology. Our view is that this can influence a profound change and make a positive contribution for those at the heart of the education system. Whether that is meeting national criteria or employer requirements, establishing centres of excellence for learning or helping individuals realise their potential, improving digital skills will bring long-term benefits for educators, students and the wider economy. Our Innovation Hub at the National Museum of Computing will be used to bring this vision to life, and we’ll work with the museum and its staff to provide the technology and expertise to support in highly relevant digital skills development for young people.

Intel: Part of our mission is to connect people to their potential, empowering them to innovate in their communities and beyond. To this end, we run initiatives around the world to improve access to technology, encourage entrepreneurship, improve economic opportunities and transform education.

Brocade: To accommodate and proactively impact this digital transformation, it is imperative to equip students and future leaders with progressing technical knowledge and skilled proficiencies. Brocade is dedicated to cultivating innovation and harvesting creative potential within students as a conduit to the changing network requirements and the new IOT era.

Kyocera: Through our range of uniquely resource-efficient printers and multifunctional devices, our best of breed software solutions and our professional services, KYOCERA helps education establishments to capture, share, store and retrieve the ideas and information that drive their success, sustainably. The addition of 3D printers enables those ideas to break free from the page and become the prototypes and proofs of concept that could become the solutions to some of humanity’s biggest challenges.

About The National Museum of Computing

The National Museum of Computing, located on Bletchley Park, is an independent charity housing the world's largest collection of functional historic computers, including the rebuilt Colossus, the world’s first electronic computer, and the WITCH, the world's oldest working digital computer. The Museum enables visitors to follow the development of computing from the ultra-secret pioneering efforts of the 1940s through the large systems and mainframes of the 1950s, 60s and 70s, and the rise of personal computing in the 1980s and beyond.

The Museum runs a highly successful Learning Programme for schools and colleges and promotes introductions to computer coding amongst young people to inspire the next generation of computer scientists and engineers.

Sponsors of the Museum have included Bletchley Park Science and Innovation Centre, Bloomberg, CreateOnline, Ceravision, Fujitsu, InsightSoftware.com, Ocado Technology, FUZE, 4Links, Google UK, IBM, NPL, HP Labs, and BCS.

Outside the long school holidays, the whole Museum is open to the public from 12 noon - 5pm on Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays, spring and summer Bank Holidays and during long school holidays. The Colossus and Tunny galleries are open daily. Public and private Guided Tours are available and bookable online – see the website or the iPhone app for details. Educational and corporate group visits are available by prior arrangement.

For more information about TNMOC and trustees, see www.tnmoc.org and follow @tnmoc on Twitter and The National Museum of Computing on Facebook and Google+. A TNMOC iPhone App is also available from the iPhone App Store.

Media Contact

Stephen Fleming, Palam Communications
01635 299116
s.fleming@palam.co.uk