Cisco recently announced its initiative to provide 1.5 million people in the European Union by 2030 free courses on basic digital skills. Cisco President and CEO, Chuck Robbins, said the plan also includes the training of 5,000 instructors in AI, cybersecurity, data science and digital transformation to help professionals remain competitive in a rapidly evolving technological landscape.
This skills training will be provided through Cisco's Networking Academy, which has been providing digital education for over 27 years.
“Cisco undertakes to support the EU and our educational partners in the development of essential talent to thrive in the AI future”, ” Robbins said in a press release announcing the program. “This new initiative strengthens our partnership to build resilient and qualified workforce ready to achieve the digital transformation of Europe and the objectives of AI.”
Build a workforce ready for the future to achieve the objectives of the European Commission
Cisco courses will cover digital awareness, cybersecurity, data science, IoT and AI, guaranteeing citizens fundamental skills for the digital economy. The program aligns with the Targets of the digital decade of the European Commission 2030which aims to stimulate digital literacy in the region.
Last year, racera said Germany, France and Spain Placed 3rd, 5th and 7th, respectively, as the most competent country in the technical level in Europe, the United Kingdom placing 25th.
The Academy has worked for over 27 years and has joined forces with more than 3,000 establishments and more than 7,000 educators across the EU, said Cisco. More than 3.2 million learners in the EU participated in courses that the Academy has offered since its creation in 1998, according to Cisco.
Other programs aim to fill the digital fracture
Here are similar programs launched worldwide to meet the shortage of digital skills.
- In the United States, the Digitunity non-profit computer joined forces with AT&T to provide digital training to 10,000 people in the United States in 2025.
- In South Africa, Microsoft’s AI skills initiative aims to allow a million South Africans to grow digital skills on demand by 2026.
- In the United States, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) of the Ministry of Commerce (NTIA) has recommended that more than $ 369 million will be allocated to 41 organizations to support the construction of digital skills across the country. The money must be reserved for the competition subsidy program in digital stocks of $ 1.25 billion, one of the three grant programs of the law on digital actions created by the Bipartite on infrastructure law.
As AA and Digital Transformation Reshape Industries, these large-scale training initiatives highlight the urgent need to develop a workforce.
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