RIM opens BlackBerry Innovation Center in Indonesia

Research In Motion (RIM) has set up its BlackBerry Innovation Center in Bandung, Indonesia, to educate students on mobile app development and promote the country's mobile computing industry.

In a press release Thursday, the Canadian phonemaker announced the official opening of the Center which it set up together with Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB). The center will provide educational programs focused on mobile app development for ITB students.

As part of the partnership with ITB, RIM will award 30 students with research scholarships in mobile computing each year over five years, it added.

In the long run, the company hopes to accelerate Indonesia's mobile computing industry by providing students with skills, education and experience required in the sector.

Hastings Singh, vice president and managing director for South Asia at RIM, said: "RIM is committed to Indonesia, and underlying the substantial investment we are making to establish the BlackBerry Innovation Center, it is our goal to nurture and accelerate mobile application development from the talent within Indonesia."

The phonemaker said it has been working with over 50 universities, colleges and schools across Indonesia under the BlackBerry Academic Program. The new center will provide "additional resources, support, technical expertise and practical experience" for students to pursue a career in mobile computing.

The latest push into the Indonesian market by RIM comes amid findings its hold on the country has weaken. In the second quarter of 2012, IDC said Google's Android operating system (OS) overtook the BlackBerry OS to become the top mobile platform in Indonesia.