Does Cisco's free technological training for 1.5 million people help close EU's skills gap?


Roxana Mînzatu, Executive Vice President of Social Rights and Skills, Quality and CEO Jobs and CEO of Cisco Chuck Robbins. Image: Cisco

Cisco recently announced its initiative to provide 1.5 million people in the European Union for 2030 free courses on basic digital skills. The president and CEO of Cisco, Chuck Robbins, said that the plan also includes training 5,000 instructors in AI, cybersecurity, data science and digital transformation to help professionals stay competitive in a rapidly evolving technological panorama.

This skills training will be delivered through the Cisco Networks Academy, which has been providing digital education for more than 27 years.

“Cisco undertakes to support the EU and our educational partners in the development of essential talent to prosper in the future promoted by AI,” Robbins said in a statement announcing the program. “This new initiative strengthens our association to build a resistant and qualified workforce ready to meet the digital transformation and the objectives of Europe.”

Build a workforce ready to meet the objectives of the European Commission

Cisco courses will cover digital consciousness, cybersecurity, data science, IoT and AI, ensuring that citizens obtain fundamental skills for the digital economy. The program is aligned with the 2030 digital objectives of the European Commission, whose objective is to promote digital literacy throughout the region.

Last year, Coursera said that Germany, France and Spain were located in the third, 5 and 7th, respectively, as the most technically competent countries in Europe, with the United Kingdom placing 25º.

The Academy has operated for more than 27 years and is associated with more than 3,000 institutions and more than 7,000 educators throughout the EU, Cisco said. According to Cisco, more than 3.2 million students in the EU have participated in courses that the Academy has offered since its inception in 1998.

Other programs aim to close the digital division

Here are similar programs that are being launched throughout the world to address the shortage of digital skills.

  • In the USA, Non -profit Computer Digitunch was associated with AT&T to provide digital training to 10,000 people in the United States in 2024.
  • In South Africa, Microsoft's Skilling AI initiative aims to empower one million South Africans with increasing digital skills in demand by 2026.
  • In the United States, national telecommunications and information from the Department of Commerce (NTIA) recommended that more than $ 369 million be granted to 41 organizations to support the creation of digital skills throughout the country. The money will go to the Competitive Digital Capital Subsidies Program of $ 1.25 billion, one of the three subsidies programs of the Digital Equity Law created by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

As the AI ​​and digital transformation remodel industries, these large -scale training initiatives highlight the urgent need to develop a workforce ready for the future.

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