8.07.2006 - 10:06am ET

(CSRwire) Alexandria, VA - Dr. Appu Kuttan, Chairman and Founder of CyberLearning, the global nonprofit leader in digital education, was yesterday awarded the prestigious "2006 Champions of Digital Literacy Inspiration Award" for making the most contributions globally to bridging the digital divide in 2006. Some 300 invited guests from around the world gathered at Disney World in Orlando, Florida to celebrate the significant contributions of international leaders closing the digital divide through digital literacy education.

David Saedi, President and CEO of Certiport, in presenting the award to Dr. Kuttan, noted, "This award is given in recognition of exceptional vision and leadership in bridging the digital divide. We selected Dr. Appu Kuttan unanimously for this prestigious award because of his outstanding leadership efforts and contributions towards bridging the digital divide by advancing digital literacy in many countries over many years."

Dr. Kuttan was chosen for the "Inspiration Award" from 13 "Champions of Digital Literacy" award recipients. They included education, government, corporate, and non-profit leaders from China, Japan, Greece, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Puerto Rico and the United States. Nominations were received from around the world and recipients were selected based on the measurable scope and social impact of their efforts.

Dr. Kuttan founded CyberLearning in 1994, and has since built it into the world's leading global non-profit bridging the digital divide through digital education. CyberLearning has trained over a million disadvantaged students and adults in digital literacy and IT skills. Its programs have been implemented in the U.S., India, Jordan, Egypt and Mauritius among others.

Dr. Kuttan's contribution to digital and IT education spans 20 years from advising the late Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi on making India an IT power, to currently helping Mauritius Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam transform Mauritius into an IT-focused nation by providing digital literacy and IT education to 400,000 Mauritians, to providing digital education to thousands of disadvantaged school students and teachers in the U.S. and India.

"I am honored and humbled to be recognized by the global leaders in digital literacy certification. As I stated in our book, 'From Digital Divide to Digital Opportunity,' what better way is there today for us to make a difference in the 21st century knowledge-based global economy than providing digital education to the millions everywhere yearning for it," said Dr. Kuttan.

Kuttan further noted, "I hope we can help country leaders to replicate the Mauritius model in their countries by implementing cost-effective holistic systems for digital literacy and IT education."

Dr. Kuttan is an international management and education systems expert, and author of several innovative concepts, such as "CyberLearning," "Management By Systems (MBS)," "Total Tennis," and "Holistic Executive." He has advised many world leaders, and has helped to improve many socio-economic systems including traffic safety and university education in Puerto Rico, social security and healthcare in Venezuela, national plan implementation in India, U.S. tennis, and digital education worldwide.

For more information on the awards, visit www.certiport.com/champions.

About CyberLearning
CyberLearning, a project of the National Education Foundation, was established in 1994 to provide effective and affordable digital literacy and information technology skills training and education for everyone, disadvantaged students and adults. It is the world's leading non-profit bridging the digital and academic divides through digital education and provides digital education to millions across the U.S., India, Egypt, Jordan, and Mauritius.

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