FREE ON-LINE UNIVERSITY - Computer software billionaire Michael Saylor is donating $100 million to start an online university he says will offer a free "Ivy League" education to anyone. "Done right, this will impact the lives of millions of people forever," Saylor told The Washington Post in an interview. "Done wrong, it's just noise in a can." Saylor, 35, is chief executive of Microstrategy, a software company based in suburban Vienna, Va. His personal wealth actually dropped in the last few days, as the company lost ground on Wall Street. The news story is available at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A9402-2000Mar14.html. (TechLearn Trends #164 23 Mar 00)

PROGRAM WILL TRAIN JOBLESS FOR TECH POSTS - The Labor Department yesterday announced a $20 million training program aimed at giving unemployed Washington, D.C. area workers technology skills. The Metro Tech program will prepare participants for entry-level jobs as computer programmers, help-desk workers and network administrators, with an average starting salary of $30,000 a year. Employers such as Lucent Technologies, Subsystems Technologies, and Social and Scientific Systems are working with the program and are already waiting to hire the trainees. The program has proved successful over the past two years in its pilot version, which placed about 200 people in IT jobs. In Northern Virginia alone, recent studies show that over 20,000 technology jobs are vacant. However, only about 10 percent of these openings are for entry-level positions, says Metro Tech board member Susan Baker. Rather than being hired directly by high-tech firms, most of the program's trainees will work in IT positions at non-tech companies, Baker says. (Washington Post, 24 Mar 00 - Edupage 24 Mar 00)

THE ABCs OF e-BUSINESS - The growth of e-business is forcing many IT and business managers to work together and learn about each other's side of the business. IT managers are studying finance, marketing, and sales, while business managers are learning about technology. Companies say business and IT managers need to share information in order to satisfy customers, operate efficiently and obtain a competitive edge. Today's economy requires a collaborative, horizontal business model rather than a hierarchical model. Collaboration often begins with greater communication between CEOs and CIOs. At First International Bank, CEO Brett Silvers meets daily with IT vice president John Garner to coordinate the company's move to e-business, whereas the two executives might have spoken once a month in the past. Colleges and universities are now responding to the need for cross-training. Stanford University's graduate school of business will start offering a three-day e-commerce program in September, while Bentley College plans to open an e-commerce education facility in July. (InformationWeek, 20 Mar 00 Edupage 24 Mar 00)