Cisco partners with Gujarat govt to offer digital training

IT hardware and networking giant Cisco said that it has signed a letter of intent (LOI) with the Gujarat government for digital training and skill development across the state.

According to a Cisco statement, the initiative, which is set to be implemented over the next 12 months, will involve multiple departments such as the Directorate of Employment & Training (DET), the Gujarat Knowledge Society (GKS), Directorate of Primary Education (DPE) and Commissionerate of Health (CoH).

“This partnership is aimed at bridging the digital skill gap in the country and enabling citizens to become technology innovators and problem solvers of the future,” said Michael Timmeny, senior vice president and chief government strategy officer at Cisco.

As part of the undertaking, Cisco further said that it will expand its Networking Academy program to all government Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) in Gujarat and work with NGO partner Quest Alliance to deliver employability skills at 100 ITIs.

The company also said that Cisco will work with Gujarat Knowledge Society and the Commissionerate of Technical Education to launch the Networking Academy Program in government, polytechnic and engineering colleges.

In an effort to improve skill sets of healthcare employees within the state, Cisco will also work with the Commissionerate of Health to pilot employability skills for nurses from government hospitals and nursing students in government colleges.

The company will additionally carry out a pilot for telemedicine in the state to provide better hospital access in a remote rural area.

Additionally, Cisco’s NGO partner Indus Action will leverage digital tools to enhance the implementation and monitoring of Right To Education (RTE) Act programmes related to inclusive education, it said in a statement.

In 2016, Cisco had invested in Gujarat by setting up an Internet of Things (IoT) Innovation hub to develop and customise digital technologies and solutions with the International Centre for Entrepreneurship and Technology (iCreate) and helped implement a Smart City project at the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City).

The company said it had also set up networking academies in 11 ITIs and has trained more than 2,000 students in digital skills over the last 12 months.