Founded greater than 25 years in the past, Cisco Networking Academy continues to be one of many longest-standing IT skills-to-jobs applications of its type, on the planet. But how can a 25-year-old program tackle right now’s digital abilities hiring tendencies?
Now, greater than ever, ‘disruption’ is on the high of thoughts for companies across the globe. A program resembling Networking Academy, which was arrange at its basis to offer learners with probably the most up-to-date and in-demand technical abilities, is well-placed to deal with the wants of the present and future world digital abilities market.
Change has at all times been on the core of the Networking Academy program’s choices.
A latest WEF Future of Jobs Report discovered that greater than 85 p.c of organizations surveyed mentioned that transformation of their group will likely be pushed by elevated adoption of recent and frontier applied sciences and broadening digital entry.
Networking Academy, by means of it’s in depth ecosystem of schooling companions and versatile studying choices, is coaching these change brokers, right now.
About the Be the Bridge and Golden Bridge Awards
Cisco Networking Academy’s Be the Bridge Awards have been launched throughout Networking Academy’s first-ever digital Global Partner Conference in May 2021 (fiscal 2020) to acknowledge the exemplary efforts of Networking Academy companions who lead of their dedication to attaining pupil success. Every Be the Bridge Award winner has excelled in a number of of the next classes: Inclusive Futures, Global Reach, Impacting Lives, Learning Innovation, and Partnerships.
Additionally, in every of Cisco Networking Academy’s geographic areas, a prestigious Golden Bridge Award is offered to the person or establishment that confirmed distinctive dedication to prioritizing pupil success over the earlier 12 months.
The success of Cisco Networking Academy is powered by the dedication and fervour of people that work in the direction of offering equitable entry to schooling for all. Our united function stays the identical: to influence the lives of learners, educators, and communities by means of the ability of know-how, schooling, and profession alternatives.
It was my absolute pleasure to current nearly all of our Golden Bridge Award winners for 2023 in-person at numerous Partner Conferences held from May to June. Each Be the Bridge winner in every area acquired a certificates of feat, a trophy, and have been entered as finalists within the annual Golden Bridge Awards, with a possibility to have a good time their achievement by means of blogs and different social advertising supplies. In addition, Golden Bridge Award winners obtain a trophy and publicity on Cisco.com.
I’m thrilled to share the 5 Cisco Networking Academy Golden Bridge Award Winners for 2023.
2023 Golden Bridge Award winners
University of Information Technology and Management, Poland
This award acknowledges the excellent response and partnership to help Ukrainian refugees in constructing their digital abilities and employability by means of the Start IT academic program Cisco4Ukraine. University of Information Technology and Management’s (UITM) capacity to scale at pace from 700 individuals within the pilot part to five,000 new registrations with the official launch of this system on February 1, 2023, reveals how the partnerships with Networking Academy are impacting lives. Thank you to everybody behind this initiative.
Learn extra on this video.
As a results of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in late February 2022, thousands and thousands of Ukrainian civilians have been pressured to flee to different international locations, primarily to Poland. According to figures from the UN refugee company, 90 p.c of those refugees have been ladies and youngsters. Poles opened hearts and houses to host Ukrainian refugees and assist them to beat many challenges and set up a brand new life.
UITM relies in Rzeszów, a metropolis in southeastern Poland and near the Ukrainian border. As an academic establishment, UITM already had long-standing relations with Ukraine. And as a Cisco Networking Academy Support Center and Instructor Training Center, UITM was properly skilled in growing and supply of academic initiatives for several types of learners. With the Networking Academy partnership and a Cisco Foundation coaching grant, UITM was capable of remodel the preliminary humanitarian help supplied to the refugees right into a extra programmable strategy, addressing the necessity to construct digital abilities, upskilling, and reskilling newcomers, and to open new alternatives for displaced Ukrainians. UITM began with a pilot program, hiring Ukrainian Networking Academy instructors to ship the programs, and adjusted the undertaking to the precise necessities of the Ukrainian refugees.
UITM used a spread of communication channels to achieve the refugees, together with social media, PR actions, partnerships with native governments in Poland and Ukraine, and collaboration with non-government organizations that help Ukrainian residents.
“So far, over 4,300 refugees from Ukraine have taken half in numerous trainings. We anticipate the primary graduates of the complete pathway in September 2023. They will then be provided the chance to take part in superior coaching, which is able to final for the following few months. Meantime many learners full the brief programs and accumulate the digital badges provided on the Skills for All platform.
The employment course of could be very particular person and is dependent upon many components. Start IT Cisco4Ukraine not solely provides a possibility to be taught new tech abilities, reskill, upskill, and put together for his or her first tech jobs but additionally empowers learners and creates a pipeline of expertise who wish to develop and obtain extra. We invite the course graduates to enroll in Cisco Talent Bridge Matching Engine platform to entry the alternatives marketed by the Cisco ecosystem and we offer the sources to arrange for the recruitment processes and job market demand.
We are proud that the Cisco Networking Academy neighborhood appreciated our dedication to supporting refugees from Ukraine. We really feel honored, however on the similar time, this distinction strengthens our motivation for additional motion. We are very blissful that the primary outcomes of this undertaking are already seen – though the coaching is ongoing and the complete path of coaching has not been accomplished but, we observe that because of the Start IT Cisco4Ukraine undertaking people are open to new alternatives and higher outfitted with abilities crucial within the digital financial system. We consider that granting this award to our college will even assist in the additional promotion of the undertaking and persuade new learners to hitch our free coaching within the area of cybersecurity and programming.”
~Lucjan Hajder, IT Director, UITM
National Information Technology Development Agency, Nigeria
This award acknowledges National Information Technology Development Agency’s (NITDA) partnership, below the Ministry Communications Technology and Digital Economy, in championing digital abilities implementation and digital literacy and abilities growth applications, with the purpose of reaching a 95 p.c digital literacy degree within the Federal Government of Nigeria by 2030. Thank you on your ongoing dedication to the success of those initiatives. We would significantly like to spotlight your partnership with Cisco Networking Academy to coach over 2,000 college students in Cisco Certified Networking Associate (CCNA) in the direction of {industry} certification, and over 10,000 service suppliers in Cybersecurity. Your help, engagement with Networking Academy instructors, and free web knowledge for the scholars engaged within the coaching is positively impacting lives.
“It is always a delight to receive awards in recognition of our efforts as they inspire us to do more. It offers the next level of motivation which could have profound impacts on us and the society at large. This award in particular serves as a confidence booster as it helps us track the success of our desired trajectory in trying to achieve a digital Nigeria. Not only did receiving this award feel gratifying by validating our efforts and the digital transformation agenda, it is also a testimony that we are on the right track towards transforming Nigeria into a leading digital economy, providing quality life and economic prosperity for all.”
~Muhammad Kabir Salihu (MNSE, COREN), Deputy Director, IT Infrastructure Solutions Department, Information Solutions Department (ITIS), National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA)
Read extra about NITDA.
Fundación Omar Dengo, Costa Rica
The Fundación Omar Dengo (FOD) is credited with this well-deserved recognition by celebrating its influence by means of the Cisco Networking Academy program on younger individuals and adults from totally different provinces of the nation. As a key associate of this system in Costa Rica, FOD demonstrates its excellence in its areas of efficiency, overcoming challenges and boundaries that they’ve encountered alongside the best way and creating their very own routes to success, in an revolutionary and autonomous means. As a part of its administration, the FOD collaborates within the creation of complementary content material designed particularly for its audiences, growing applications for the neighborhood and for the underserved.
In fiscal 2023, FOD receives the Golden Bridge Award for contributing to the acceleration of studying digital abilities within the native ecosystem by closing the digital divide and selling employability applications in subjects resembling programming, cybersecurity, networks and Internet of Things, amongst others. Congratulations to all concerned.
“The Omar Dengo Foundation has promoted workforce development for 35 years through educational proposals that are based on the use of new technologies. It is an honor for us to receive this award, which recognizes the role we have played in closing digital gaps, mainly in promoting employability programs in areas such as programming, cybersecurity, networks, and the Internet of Things.”
~Elena Carreras, Director, Innova Educational Development, Fundación Omar Dengo
EdCreate Foundation, India
This award acknowledges a big milestone for EdCreate of reaching greater than 100,000 college students in India, making EdCreate our largest Networking Academy associate in India. We are in awe of what number of underserved communities EdCreate serves of their academic focus – as much as 70 or 80 p.c! We are additionally excited to see employer partnerships in India efficiently inserting college students in IT firms, to additional create profession alternatives for them.
You can learn extra from a latest weblog.
“The challenges to coach underserved college students in rural Indian areas are many and embody infrastructure within the schools, lack of well-equipped laboratories, workshops, and lecture rooms, which hinders the efficient supply of any technical schooling program. Regulatory challenges resembling compliance with regulatory frameworks, accreditation processes, and frequent coverage modifications can be a problem for technical schooling establishments. Navigating these necessities whereas making certain high quality schooling turns into very demanding. We are continually juggling the standard of the school, {industry}/academia gaps, lack of analysis and innovation, entry and affordability, in addition to the agricultural/city divide.
When we started our partnership with Cisco, we underestimated the magnitude of influence Cisco Networking Academy program can herald individuals’s lives. There is a profound impact on thousands and thousands of scholars and their households after we create a world-class, employable, digital workforce, far past what the people, themselves, had initially anticipated, too. The journey to this point has been very transformative.”
Thanks to Cisco India Team and the worldwide management for this continued help and their perception in our work. We are actually honored and humbled to obtain the Golden Bridge Award for the second 12 months in a row. It is a validation of the laborious work and dedication that went into growing our group as the biggest Cisco Networking Academy associate on the planet right now. Looking to the longer term, EdCreate Foundation goals to increase in all Indian geographies, because it plans to “go global”. “With the help of our wonderful team, tech adoption and our strategic alliances with multiple governments, we will scale faster in our commitment to create a digital and employable workforce.”
~Manas Deep, co-founder, EdCreate Foundation
Ivy Tech Community College, Indiana, United States
Through the Ivy Tech’s Valparaiso campus Routing Switching Certificate program, Ivy Tech Community College participates within the State Earn and Learn (SEAL) Program. This ten-month program is part of the Indiana Department of Workforce Development. It is an industry-driven, high-quality profession pathway the place employers can develop and put together their future workforce. Individuals can receive paid work expertise and obtain progressive wage will increase, classroom instruction, and a transportable, nationally-recognized credential. SEAL applications are licensed by the State of Indiana. Applicants work in collaboration with employers to attain certification.
The Golden Bridge Award acknowledges Ivy Tech for offering college students with the abilities wanted to work within the IT area and the power to earn industry-recognized certifications. We’re additionally excited to see apprenticeship alternatives increasing with native enterprise neighborhood partnerships, impacting the lives of scholars and the organizations they’ll finally work for.
“Ivy Tech Community College is honored to be a recipient of the Cisco Networking Academy Golden Bridge Award for 2023. Ivy Tech’s vision is that our students will earn 50,000 high-quality credentials each year aligned with the needs of Indiana’s workforce and communities. Our partnership with Cisco and the Cisco Networking Academy is vital in reaching this vision and our commitment to our students. This also aligns with one of the goals of the Cisco Networking Academy, to “provide skills training through strong public-private partnerships, high-quality curriculum, and inclusive workforce development programs.”
~Ben Marrero – Cisco Academy Support Center, Interim Dean, School of IT, Valparaiso Campus
“Internships are crucial to the student’s learning process and eventual success. Within internships, classroom concepts suddenly become fundamental tools of the trade as you interact and learn in a professional setting. Our Routing and Switching SEAL program gives our students real-world experiences. Also, internships help build résumés and teach instrumental, career-developing qualities. Internships help develop your professionalism and encourage character growth and characteristics like integrity, commitment, and self-motivation, which are several traits learned through an internship.” says Mr. Marrero.
This is the primary Ivy Tech School of IT program to be credited by the Indiana SEAL program, with future plans to increase to different IT applications, resembling Cybersecurity and Programming.
“I have been attending Ivy Tech for three years to obtain my Associated Degree in Network Infrastructure. Throughout my studies, I have taken many of the networking courses that Ivy Tech provides through Cisco, and they have all helped me get the current job I have. The most beneficial course Ivy Tech has from Cisco was the Infrastructure Design – Logical and Physical (SEAL program), it has helped me with my current job where I have had to build labs and make my own cables. I have said to Ben Marrero multiple times that I would be happy to take the class again because learning about fiber optic cabling and making those cables was fun and interesting to learn about.”
~Lawrence De Rozairo, Student at Ivy Tech Community College
2023 Be the Bridge Award winners
Europe-CIS
Universidad Miguel Hernández, Spain
Middle East and Africa
Department of Higher Education South Africa
African Advanced Level Telecommunications Institute, Kenya
Latin America
SENAI – SP, Brazil
Asia Pacific, Japan, and China
Electrical and Information Engineering, Universitas Gadjah Mada, India
United States and Canada
Montgomery County Community College
Western Academy Support and Training Center
Previous Be the Bridge Awards winners
2021 Cisco Networking Academy acknowledges high companions and instructors – Cisco Blogs
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