Cisco announced new investments in India of up to USD 20 million over the next five years into the Cisco Networking Academy, with an additional USD 40 million for the next phase of expansion in India.
NETWORKING ACADEMY
The Cisco Networking Academy in India is one of the largest programs for Cisco worldwide. Across 198 academies nationwide an approximately 100,000 Indian students have been trained since its inception.
The skills-development program is a cloud-delivered, scalable, high-quality program that helps students learn how to design, build, secure and maintain computer networks. Supporting the government’s vision to help Indians acquire the skills necessary for 21st century jobs, Cisco will contribute up to USD 20 million, in direct and indirect investment, to train an additional 120,000 students in India by 2020.
BROADER INVESTMENTS
Cisco also announced an USD 40 million investment towards the expansion of its India facility. Spread over 4 million square feet, and designed as a campus-as-a-city for thousands of Cisco employees to work, play and learn, the Cisco Smart City is a spectacular showcase of the future of smart and connected communities in India.
“We are investing big in India. I have deep admiration for the country, as it truly understands the importance of digitization and the impact it will have,” said John Chambers, Chairman and CEO of CISCO.
“We came to India for the quality of the workforce. We invested in innovation, which is now transforming industries. Cisco is committed to partnering with India’s government to translate the Digital India vision into reality. I believe that India’s entrepreneurial spirit, highly skilled workforce and supportive government will accelerate the country’s digital transformation.”
As part of its commitment to helping India become a world leader in manufacturing, Cisco will use its global supply chain expertise to help build and accelerate the manufacturing ecosystem in India.
It will also organize the Cisco Design and Innovation Conference in Bengaluru in February 2016, to bring together over 75 of Cisco’s key suppliers and partners to drive collaboration on product development and IoE enabled supply chain technology.
The move underpins Cisco’s commitment to helping India become a world leader in manufacturing and further fueling the country’s digital transformation, Cisco said.
Chuck Robbins, incoming CEO said, “The Indian government’s vision for a Digital India is truly transformative and will create huge opportunities for the country and its citizens. Cisco believes our renewed local investments, global expertise, and world-class innovation will accelerate the government’s vision to create sustainable competitiveness and prosperity. We are deeply committed to partnering with India to achieve their digital vision.”
Dinesh Malkani, President, Cisco India and SAARC said, “The government’s Digital India vision will unleash huge opportunities, revolutionizing the way we live, work, play, and learn. Today’s announcements underscore India’s strategic importance to Cisco’s global operations particularly as an innovator in the next wave of the Internet’s development. Cisco has made significant investments in India since we established operations in the country in 1995 and today’s announcement will lay the foundation for the next chapter in Cisco’s development in India.”
Correction: An earlier headline had said ‘$60 bln’ instead of ‘$60 mln’. The error is regretted.