Ubisoft 2013 Annual Report Download - page 37

Management Report
2013
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- Investments in the community: Voluntary contributions and funds invested in the community in
the wider sense (including donations) (see 1.4.3.3.2);
- Solidarity: Collecting clothes, food and games, sponsoring sports teams (see 1.4.3.3.2);
- Health: Blood drives, financial donations to health-care organizations (see 1.4.3.3.2).
The sites conducted various actions in 2012/2013 to assist the development of neighboring local
populations.
Many sites are in contact with local universities to develop internship, training or tutoring programs, or
to sit on the jury for project presentations or competitions, for example in Spain (Barcelona, Madrid),
Sweden, Ukraine, Italy (Milan), Japan (Osaka), Finland, Bulgaria, the United States (San Francisco)
and India.
Red Storm (Cary, NC) worked with IGDA (International Game Developers Association), Wake Tech
Community College and other local academic establishments and art institutes to help students
compile their portfolios and prepare for interviews, thereby encouraging local employment.
The Chengdu studio has formed close relations with local universities and high schools. The
subsidiary set up a two-month training program in advanced 3D art, completed by 20 students, 17 of
who have since joined the teams. In total, of the 45 positions created by the studio in 2012/2013, 35
went to new graduates.
The Reflections studio (Newcastle) supports training programs with the Universities of Teesside,
Northumbria and Newcastle and sponsors the University of Dundee’s game development competition
“Dare to be Digital”.
Ubisoft Singapore has continued its involvement in the DigiPen campus, a tripartite collaboration
between the DigiPen Institute of Technology Singapore, the Singapore Workforce Development
Agency (WDA) and the Ubisoft studio in Singapore. This collaboration, which began in October 2009,
consists of a 10-month training program with three different areas of specialization (Programming,
Game Design and Art).
The Canadian sites in Montreal and Quebec have just as much to offer when it comes to supporting
local development.
In 2012, Ubisoft Montreal launched Academia, an ambitious group of four programs aimed at training
the people who will work in video games in the future. Those taking part in Academia will become
acquainted with the skills and abilities sought by the industry and even try out the diverse aspects of
these in real production conditions. Participants get the opportunity to practice their creativity,
innovation and leadership.
The Quebec studio has also formed many partnerships, specifically a partnership with Laval University
to support the Information Technology backup facility and thus help ensure the transfer of knowledge
and skills in the IT fields, a partnership with ENDI (The National Institute of Digital Entertainment) for
Ubisoft experts to mentor students for an hour a week for 12 weeks (three students mentored in
2012/2013), and the award of scholarship for excellence in partnership with Cégep Limoilou.
In addition, Nicolas Rioux, Vice President and Chief Executive Officer of the studio, sits on the Board
of Directors of CIMMI (center for digital imaging and interactive media), which aims to contribute to
technological progress and the growth of companies by providing multidisciplinary expertise in R&D
and technology transfer in the fields of digital imaging and interactive media.