Acronis Cyber Foundation unveils results, future growth of IT skills programme for Swiss migrants at Acronis #CyberFit Summit

SCHAFFHAUSEN, Switzerland, November 18, 2021 - The Acronis Cyber Foundation, a non-profit organization run by the leading cyber protection company Acronis, revealed today a new programme teaching basic IT and soft skills designed to help people with migration background in Switzerland gain some of the knowledge needed to successfully adapt to the Swiss society and find career success in Switzerland. Taking to the stage at the Acronis #CyberFit Summit at Acronis' headquarters in Switzerland, Acronis Cyber Foundation representatives unveiled new support and partnerships with the Schaffhausen Canton government, Integres, and the Swiss Workers' Relief Agency SAH Schaffhausen.

With these new partnerships in place - joining continued support from the Schaffhausen Institute of Technology, Acronis volunteers, and other partnering organizations - the Acronis Cyber Foundation detailed an expanded scope of training courses for migrants in the Schaffhausen canton. This curriculum includes 80 hours of classwork focused on foundational IT skills and soft skills delivered to two groups of 15 students over the course of three weeks.Upon completion, students of the Acronis IT Skills Programme gain expert guidance into the basics of computer usage and modern cybersecurity, commonly-used Microsoft Office applications, and soft skills that will help them open more opportunities for themselves and their families in their new Swiss home. "A lack of computer skills often proves to be a major obstacle for immigrants on their way to vocational training and the job market," explained Kurt Zubler, Managing Director of migrant integration support organization Integres. "With this free programme from the Acronis Cyber Foundation, we can quickly take countermeasures here and thus improve the chances of successful vocational training."

"Acronis´ corporate values and culture coincide with my own: Acronis is not just a company, but also an integral part of society with the responsibility to provide equal opportunities for a decent life through education to those who lack them", said Patrick Pulvermueller, CEO at Acronis. "Here in Switzerland, the immigrant community makes up a great part of the population, and we aim to help increase their employment and educational opportunities via our IT skills trainings. We believe that a long-term perspective is what will help and change the lives of those people for the better ", he added.Since the Acronis IT Skills Programme began last year, four groups of students have completed the course, with 21 recent migrants graduating in August 2020 and another 26 migrants graduating in August 2021. Speaking to the value of these courses, Programme alumnus Joseph Osoro reflected: "I have lived in Switzerland since 2013 and have been actively working in the construction industry for the last five years. Sooner or later, a person who has worked in construction for a long time should start doing something else, and I'm very thankful for this computer science course, which gave me so much knowledge of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and many good things that I will be able to use in my work. I am really thankful for this opportunity."

With its expanded curriculum and support in Schaffhausen, the Acronis Cyber Foundation forecasts even more opportunities for Swiss migrant students in the year ahead. To support this project, the Foundation team invites individuals and organizations to share their time, expertise, resources, and financial support. More information is available at acronis.org. About the Acronis Cyber Foundation The Acronis Cyber Foundation was established by Acronis in 2018 in honor of Acronis' 15-year anniversary and the company's founding principle that all evils are caused by insufficient knowledge. The foundation supports multiple initiatives around the world designed to stimulate education in order to gain and protect knowledge. The Acronis Cyber Foundation has been creating and sharing knowledge by funding schools and computer classrooms in underserved communities, publishing educational children's books, and developing IT training programs for groups including military veterans, ex-offenders, and immigrants.

Acronis unifies data protection and cybersecurity to deliver integrated, automated cyber protection that solves the safety, accessibility, privacy, authenticity, and security (SAPAS) challenges of the modern digital world. With flexible deployment models that fit the demands of service providers and IT professionals, Acronis provides superior cyber protection for data, applications, and systems with innovative next-generation antivirus, backup, disaster recovery, and endpoint protection management solutions powered by AI. With advanced anti-malware powered by cutting-edge machine intelligence and blockchain based data authentication technologies, Acronis protects any environment - from cloud to hybrid to on premises - at a low and predictable cost. Founded in Singapore in 2003 and incorporated in Switzerland in 2008, Acronis now has more than 1,700 employees in 34 locations in 19 countries. Our Acronis Cyber Protect solution is available in 25 languages in over 150 countries and is used by over 20,000 service providers to protect over 750,000 businesses.