National Instruments to benefit SMEs in eight new countries

National Instruments has announced to expand its Planet NI SME benefit program to eight new countries around the world. With this, the company aims to make engineering tools affordable, accessible and relevant to groups, like SMEs, academic institutions and organizations creating environmental and health solutions, in emerging countries that focus on making a difference in their communities.

The eight new countries joining the SME benefit pogram are Turkey, Lebanon, Egypt, Pakistan, Tunisia, the Philippines, Cameroon and Nigeria. The program includes a wide range of support activities, including technical consulting, reduced pricing on NI tools, access to world-class training and technical support.

"Engineering startup companies in developing countries often lack the funds to acquire cutting-edge technologies, which puts them at a significant disadvantage. The skills and expertise of the engineers, scientists and entrepreneurs in these regions continues to impress us, and, through Planet NI, we can provide qualifying companies with NI technology to empower this local engineering talent and support innovation," said Victor Mieres, VP, sales and marketing for Asia and chairman of the board of Planet NI.

The program has been very successful in countries such as India and Mexico, where Planet NI has helped more than 200 SMEs thrive since the program's inception four years ago. Companies currently active in the program are developing products for rural villages, designing specialized machines for local industries and building solar-powered systems.