You sat in front of your computer for hours to score the best seats. Whether you were going to Coachella, the World Cup, or Hamilton, you knew it was going to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience – so you recorded a few special moments on your smartphone, recording some highlights that you could share with friends later.

In its continuing mission to spread and protect knowledge around the world, the Acronis Foundation marked a new milestone last week by opening a school in the small village of Loongung, Tanzania. The new school, which was built in partnership with the local community and the German-based non-profit Fly & Help, will provide more than 500 children with access to education. While Acronis funded the school and it was constructed in partnership between the Acronis Foundation and Fly & Help, ensuring the villagers retained total control over their children’s education was of the utmost importance. That is why the school building has been donated to Loongung with no strings attached.

One of the first initiatives of the recently established Acronis Foundation was the creation of the Yellow Ribbon Fund-Acronis IT Skills Programme in Singapore, which taught valuable IT and life skills to inmates as a way to help them build a new life after release and reduce the odds that they would reoffend. This week, Acronis is happy to congratulate the first 15 participants on successfully completing the first training course.

With technology, things are always changing. So as a global leader in cyber protection and hybrid cloud solutions, Acronis has to continuously invest in research and development (R&D) to ensure we’re providing customers with the best protection for their data, apps and systems using cutting-edge technologies. That innovative philosophy pays tremendous dividends in the effectiveness of our solutions. Developing those technologies also requires us to find the best and brightest software engineers, scientists and security experts wherever they may be. That is why we have a network of R&D centers located around the world, operating in Asia, Europe and America. Such a global presence not only allows us to develop cyber protection, artificial intelligence, and blockchain-based technologies around the clock, it puts us closer to the best talent around the world. Now that R&D network is even larger since we just opened our new European office and R&D center in Sofia, Bulgaria. The strategic location will not only help us better serve our European-based customers, but the central location enables us to more easily draw on the well-educated and dedicated technical talent pool the continent offers.