Press Releases

Budapest, November 3, 2009 16:00

A conceptual approach, live contacts, harmonized objectives set by the business and higher education spheres - among others, these were the goals in the focus of the forum held in Budapest today, initiated by Magyar Telekom, and titled Magyar Telekom - Hungarian Higher Education Dialogue. Participants of the event included the Company's management and experts, as well as representatives of the largest Hungarian universities and colleges, academic and students' organizations, and heads of the Ministry of Education and Culture. Magyar Telekom's higher education partnership strategy was also presented at the event.

In an effort to renew and intensify the existing contacts between higher education and the business sphere, as well as to elaborate a long-term strategy of cooperation, Magyar Telekom initiated a Higher Education Dialogue event held on November 03. At the event, the management and experts of the Company, together with representatives of higher education institutions, their affiliated organizations for education, and the Ministry of Education and Culture started a dialogue about potential cooperation and the necessary preparation.

Magyar Telekom's Chairman-CEO, Christopher Mattheisen explained at the event: "Everyone has had the feeling for a long time that we could achieve a lot more, if there were live contacts between the higher education and business spheres. This would not only provide more practice-focused and more useful knowledge and so better chances of employment for new graduates, but enable fruitful cooperation in the context of research and development activities and innovation pursued by the higher education institutions and the companies. We could also ensure that our grants go to the right places, in the right forms, or we could even help the efforts of the institutions with our professional advice."

An issue frequently raised is that students face different sets of requirements posed by higher education and by businesses; as a result, when they graduate, they do not have the necessary experience and practical skills. Many obstacles impede the cooperation of companies and higher education institutions in the context of research and development, as well as in applying for funds. No substantial improvement was achieved in this situation over the past two decades, despite the fact that all concerned parties have been aware of the importance of this cooperation. The attempts made have been generally focused on specific issues, and have not been part of any long-term, well-thought-out and jointly elaborated strategy, and so have not made a perceivable impact.

Magyar Telekom, as one of the largest employers, which is continuously faced with the drawbacks of this situation, wishes to change all that. That is why the Company, the first major business to do so, wishes to spearhead this change by starting a dialogue with stakeholders of higher education. Representatives and managers of leading institutions attended the Higher Education Dialogue, demonstrating their mutual openness to dialogue and cooperation.

International experience also shows that joint projects and developments implemented in partnership can be better targeted and more effective if the parties involved first get acquainted with each other's thinking, respective approaches and needs. Partnership is an excellent way to learn from each other, share experience and harmonize conclusions.

All participants agreed with the objectives of the Higher Education Dialogue event, and, on this basis, coordination will continue between Magyar Telekom and the universities, colleges and the Ministry. The short-term goal is to define the basic principles and main pillars, while specific plans of cooperation can be elaborated in mid-term. The management of the Company expects that the initiative will be beneficial for all parties involved, and also have a positive impact on Hungary's competitiveness.

About Magyar Telekom
Magyar Telekom is Hungary's biggest provider of telecom services. It provides a full range of telecommunications and infocommunications (ICT) services including fixed line and mobile telephony, data transmission and non-voice as well as IT and systems integration services. The business activities of Magyar Telekom are managed by two business units: Consumer services (the home-related services brand T-Home and the mobile communications brand T-Mobile) and Business services (T-Systems brand). Magyar Telekom is the majority owner of Makedonski Telekom, the leading fixed line and mobile operator in Macedonia and it holds a majority stake in Crnogorski Telekom, the leading telecommunications operator in Montenegro. Magyar Telekom's majority shareholder (59.21%) is MagyarCom Holding GmbH, fully owned by Deutsche Telekom AG.
For further information visit www.telekom.hu.