Certiport Inc., the provider of global, performance-based certification programs, has announced Lay Yong Shun Edward from Singapore and Tristam Horn from Australia as this year’s World Champions for Microsoft Corp.’s Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel, respectively, at the annual Worldwide Competition on Microsoft Office presented by Certiport.
The two world champions were recognized for their accomplishments in ceremonies at the Certiport Pathways conference in Orlando, Florida, USA where 36 country winners competed.
A record 40,000 students from 66 countries participated in several rounds of local, country, and regional competitions, capped by the world championship round in Orlando to determine this year’s winners.
A student in Ngee Ann Polytechnic, Edward’s trip to the Orlando competition was sponsored by NTUC CertCentral, Certiport solution provider in Singapore.
This competition has grown steadily, both in world coverage and in participation, since its inauguration in 2002 as a regional event in Asia. 2006 has seen students from an additional 25 countries over the previous year participate to capture the coveted championship. Last year’s record numbers in participation also jumped by more than 15,000 students in 2006.
“Tomorrow’s leaders will emerge from the aspiring youth of today,” said David Saedi, president and chief executive officer of Certiport. “This worldwide competition provides a unique forum for students of this calibre to distinguish themselves through a set of digital skills essential to their academic and professional success.”
Certiport provides industry-leading training, assessment and certification solutions that enable individuals to develop the skills necessary to achieve more, distinguish themselves and advance in today’s academic and business environments. These solutions include Certiport Internet and Computing Core Certification (IC3), the Microsoft Office Specialist certification program and Microsoft IT Academy delivered through a channel of more than 10,000 Certiport Centers worldwide.