China Top Brands published a five page top story on Microsoft’s talent development and contribution of ready talents to the Chinese economy. The article describes Bill Gates’ intentions in setting up MSRA in China, Microsoft as well as China’s need to boost innovation with a greater number of talents in order to compete globally, the measures MSRA has taken to develop talents, including the internship programs it has set up, and the working environment and values at MSRA. Thoughts and experiences of Xin Ma, UR Project Manager, and MSRA interns are provided. Also touched upon by the article is the future of China’s IT industry and how it must improve. A half-page photo of the Stars of Tomorrow interns is given, as well as a large photo of Xin Ma and several photos of MRSA’s modern and comfortable office.

The article points out that Microsoft is the strongest company in the world in terms of profit, and has become the symbol of a generation. Yet, Microsoft still constantly pursues innovation in order to ensure a promising future. The establishment of MSRA is one of Bill Gates’ strategies in furthering innovation, as the number of available talents in China has surpassed that of the U.S. MSRA has been helping the development of the company as well as China’s local industry by fostering ready talents. Since 1998, MRSA has welcomed over 300 excellent researchers and over 2500 top interns from around the world, all committed to working on the most globally advanced projects.

Xin Ma talks about MSRA’s goal of helping talents explore with their abilities, and the contributions they will make, not only to Microsoft, but also China and the world. The article gives a description of the things Microsoft looks for in talents and internship programs held by MSRA such as Stars of Tomorrow, along with its characteristics, including the chance to visit Bill Gates in the U.S. Several interns described their experiences and thoughts, including the knowledge and inspiration they have gathered and their admiration for Gates’ patience and intelligence during their visit.

The article also looks at MSRA’s working environment, which rather resembles a school, full of teachers and students, all focused on developing innovation, and at the same time learning and bringing out their own potential. Finally, the article ends with a look at China’s need for further progress in order to be strong enough to compete in the global IT industry, with comments given by an IT industry brand expert, De-Liang Liu. “I think it would be appropriate to use “Whampoa Military Academy” (WestPoint Military Academy is the equivalent in the U.S.) as a metaphor for MSRA.” “China’s software industry needs “Whampoa Military Academy,” and furthermore needs “Whampoa Military Academy’s” strong mechanism. This is perhaps MSRA’s biggest gift for China.” “We must recognize that MSRA has indeed made great contributions to China and talent cultivation in Asia’s software industry. MSRA has also been a driving force behind the quality improvement of technology in China’s software industry to a certain degree.”