For those of us with access to dependable high-speed Internet, life (at least our professional lives) has barely been interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic now in its third year. In-person meetings have given way to Zoom calls and we’ve ditched our business casual attire for athleisure wear and have carved out spaces for our home offices and have gone about our work as usual. Unfortunately, this hasn’t been the case for everyone, as the digital divide between the haves and the have-nots has widened into a gaping chasm of inequality and missed opportunity.

Dassault Systèmes, provider of 3D product design, modeling and simulation software, aims to help change the status quo and open doors for all, regardless of their socioeconomic circumstances. The company has launched a global program called 3DExperience Edu Centers of Excellence to help students, young professionals, businesses and government agencies immerse themselves in new technologies and keep pace with the digital transformations of key industries like manufacturing, health care, life sciences, engineering and construction. These are the industries experiencing the most dramatic and rapid digitization and transformation touching nearly every key process.

Florence Verzelen, executive vice president, Industry, Marketing & Sustainability, Dassault Systèmes. (Picture courtesy of LinkedIn.)

“Creating learning facilities that continuously adjust to the rapid transformation of industries can only be achieved by combining efforts from government, local employers, academia and technology providers,” said Florence Verzelen, executive vice president of Industry, Marketing & Sustainability at Dassault Systèmes. “The 3DEXPERIENCE Edu Centers of Excellence program leverages our experience in collaborative learning programs and in the continuous reinvention of industry practices with the 3DEXPERIENCE platform at their core. Through this network of centers, we can strengthen these combined efforts and enable the emergence of new models for businesses, work and education.”

Five centers scattered across the globe have already joined Dassault Systèmes and are helping the company execute its vision for creating opportunities for workers to position themselves as leaders in the emerging digital world. The first centers to join the program are CampusFab and the Trades and Qualifications of Excellence Campus - South (CMQE-SUD) cluster in France, the K-Tech Center of Excellence in Aerospace & Defense in India, the Composites Manufacturing Simulation Center of Purdue University in the U.S., and the Industrial Innovation Center for Aerospace (CIIA) in Mexico. These schools all have close relationships with government agencies and companies that work in the aerospace, automotive and aerospace industries.

Educational centers that team up with Dassault Systèmes combine digital design software platforms and tools provided by 3DEXPERIENCE with their own cutting-edge machinery and equipment that will be used in the real world. Coursework will be developed in tandem with key partners in the local economy to ensure that the curriculum is relevant to the needs in the job market. Studying at the Centers of Excellence will expose learners to emerging technologies like digital twins, artificial intelligence, materials science, digital manufacturing and 3D printing—all areas poised for hypergrowth in the coming years as jobs change, roles evolve and new positions are created for those willing to learn.

We applaud an industry titan that commits to creating new and exciting opportunities across the world, and which opens doors for anyone with a drive and passion to take part in technology transformation. This program will fuel innovation and help create a new paradigm for companies that want to position themselves for global good—a cause for which Dassault Systèmes has already provided exemplary leadership.