SMALL BUSINESS NEWS AND NOTES

Expanding Access To Information Technology

(NAPSM)-Technology is changing the way we live. That's why it is critical to bring everyone into the Digital Age.

One corporation that is spearheading efforts to provide IT education is IBM, which recently made free technology available to students, parents and business owners participating in the La Familia Technology Celebration, a nationwide public awareness program that informs Hispanics about the educational, career and entrepreneurial opportunities that technology presents.

Throughout the year, the corporation sponsors workshops, computer and Internet classes, and grass-roots programs that introduce Hispanics, Blacks, Native Americans and other communities to technology training and solutions that can enhance their performance at school and on the job.

The Small Business Toolkit is a free online portal that the company launched in partnership with the World Bank's International Finance Corporation, to provide small and medium businesses owned by Asians, Blacks, Hispanics, Native Americans and Women in the U.S., as well as small business owners in emerging markets around the world, with high-value information, training and tools, including:

• an online calculator that helps small businesses determine their readiness for financing

• software to build a Web site

• survey and quiz builders to help small businesses make decisions

• community tools such as online conferencing, blog capability, and group calendars, and

• a multilingual business director to help small businesses link up locally, regionally and globally.

Reading Companion is innovative speech-recognition technology that provides individualized feedback to the user, enabling emerging readers to practice their pronunciation as they acquire reading skills. In independent evaluations with children and adults, the technology increased both reading and pronunciation skills. IBM has established a $2 million grant to donate Reading Companion to more than 220 schools and nonprofit organizations around the world.

Another initiative, ÁTradúceloAhora! (Translate Now), uses WebSphere technology to help bridge the communications gap between Spanish and English. ÁTradúceloAhora! translates emails bi-directionally (English-to-Spanish and Spanish-to-English). It also translates Web sites automatically from English to Spanish. The ÁTradúceloAhora! grant program is making the translation software available at over 600 individual sites and to more than 100,000 people in the U.S. and abroad.

For more information, visit www.us.smetoolkit.org, www.tra duceloahora.org or www.reading companion.org.

Participants in the Latina Leadership Symposium view a demonstration of the Small Business Toolkit.