The Orange Educational Program was launched at the Faculty of Computer Science of "Alexandru Ioan Cuza" University of Iași at the beginning of May 2018. At the invitation of faculty representatives, Orange Romania, through its experts, delivered several lectures on the latest technologies at that time: 5G and IoT.
The success of this initiative — well organized by the faculty and strongly supported by Orange Romania specialists — in front of final-year undergraduate and master's students, marked the beginning of a solid collaboration. This partnership was formalized in the summer of 2018 through the signing of a collaboration agreement, which defines the general framework for cooperation.
The main objectives of the collaboration focus on research and development activities, such as: supporting the University with computing equipment, sponsoring scientific conferences organized by the University, offering training courses, or developing joint R&D projects. The partnership also supports learning activities, including: improving study conditions in the IT field, awarding scholarships to students, collaborating on the design of academic programs, and providing internship opportunities at Orange Romania.
The implementation of some objectives outlined in the collaboration protocol was detailed in a Collaboration Agreement signed later in 2018, through which Orange Romania committed to implementing Business WiFi, DIA, and BIS services to provide secure internet access throughout the Faculty of Computer Science. Under this agreement, Orange Romania also committed to offering a set number of course and lab hours each year to students of the faculty. In addition, the agreement includes the scholarship regulation for awarding study grants to students.
From 2019 to the present, annual sessions of lectures and labs have been held on topics of interest such as: next-generation 5G technologies, IoT, cloud, virtualization, cybersecurity, as well as thematic competitions in these areas.