Seventeen Cisco Networking Academies established in nine countries around Asia Pacific have produced to date 400 trained networking professionals.

The UNDP Asia Pacific Development Information Programme (APDIP) and Cisco Systems, Inc., announced today the successful completion of their programme to bring Internet education to students in developing countries in the Asia Pacific region. In fact, APDIP and Cisco surpassed the original goal to set-up ten Cisco Networking Academies in nine developing countries in the region and have since established seventeen academies that have trained over 400 students.

The Cisco Networking Academy program teaches students to design, build and maintain computer networks. The collaboration with APDIP is part of Cisco's Strategic Partnership with United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and United Nations Volunteer program (UNV) to help train students in the world's Least Developed Countries (LDC) for jobs in the Internet Economy.

"We have been delighted with the success of the Cisco Networking Academy Program. The information economy demands an unprecedented level of technology literacy from tomorrow's workers. Yet in many Asia Pacific countries there is a severe shortage of trained networking specialists. Our three year collaboration with Cisco has helped some of these countries bridge the digital divide," said Ms Maxine Olson, UNDP Malaysia Resident Representative.

The seventeen Cisco Networking Academies are located in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Fiji, India, Mongolia, Nepal, Papua New Guinea and Sri Lanka. Moving forward, United Nations Volunteers (UNVs) will help strengthen the academies that have been established and expand the Program in the four LDC countries where Cisco has no offices. Academies in the Pacific Islands, Mongolia , and the Indian sub-continent, will be managed by Regional Cisco Networking Academies in Australia, China and India respectively.

"The Cisco Networking Academy program was developed to impart networking and the Internet skills to students and working adults. Cisco strongly believes that education in this area should not be reserved only for those that can afford it. By working with the UNDP to make advanced Internet education available in the least developed countries, we are giving them the same educational opportunity and a way to be better equipped for a good IT career that students in more developed countries are receiving. This is all part of Cisco's belief that the Internet and Education are truly the great equalizers in life," said Joseph Puthussery, Director of Marketing, Asia Pacific, Cisco Systems.

For Ms Karvika Thapa, a student in Nepal, an LDC where the average annual income is US$210, the Program has been an eye-opener to the world of the Internet. "In 12 months of the Program so far, I've been able to relate the Internet in terms of real world networking scenarios. Now I am able to network my desktop and laptop computers at home and also use a router to connect both computers to the Internet. I thank my instructors and the management at the Kathmandu College of Management (KCM), Nepal and Cisco for giving me this wonderful opportunity to get hands on training in a great field like networking," she said.

About Cisco's LDC Initiative
At the G-8 Summit In July, 2000, Cisco Systems announced that it will work with its strategic partners - the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the United States Agency for International Development's Leland Initiative - to extend the Cisco Networking Academy Program to half of the world's 49 Least Developed Countries (LDCs).

With this initiative, Cisco will partner for the first time with the United Nations Secretary General's new initiative UNITeS and the United Nations Volunteers to implement the program and expand the range of information and communication technologies available within LDCs. Bringing the Cisco Networking Academy Program to these countries will provide local workforces with the skills to design, build and maintain the Internet infrastructure, which is a critical step to participation and employment in the global economy. This program will facilitate sustainable development in the LDCs and accelerate their progression and full integration into the world economy.

Contact person:
Phet Sayo
Programme Specialist Capacity Building
Asia-Pacific Development Information Programme
Wisma UN, Block C, Kompleks Pejabat Damansara,
Jalan Dungun, Damansara Heights,
50490 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Tel: (603) 2091-5172
Fax: (603) 2093-9740
Email: phet@apdip.net