Mario Maniewicz of ITU's Telecommunication Development Bureau on the Union's Association with Cisco
December 4, 2006
How can the private sector collaborate with industry bodies for the improvement of communities? If you are looking for an answer, the work that Cisco® has carried out and continues to carry out with the Development Sector of ITU provides some useful clues.
For many years now, Cisco and ITU have acted jointly to help improve telecommunications infrastructure and skills delivery to some of the neediest peoples on the planet.
As the two organizations come together for ITU Telecom World 2006 in Hong Kong, News@Cisco spoke to Mario Maniewicz of ITU's Telecommunication Development Bureau (BDT) about his perspective on this long-standing and fruitful association.
What are ITU's goals for development activity?
Mario Maniewicz: ITU's special program for least developed countries (LDCs) gives priority to five areas:
- Development of infrastructure and introduction of new technologies.
- Sector restructuring to create a conducive environment for increased investment and growth.
- Rural telecommunication development to extend access and use of telecommunication services and ICT in order to achieve universal access.
- Human resources development and management.
- Financing and partnerships.
What are the main development projects that Cisco collaborates with ITU on?
Mario Maniewicz: ITU collaborates with Cisco on its Internet Training Centers (ITC) initiative, the overriding objective of which is that growth in IP networking delivers maximum benefits to the global community. ITU manages the project in cooperation with its partners.
Cisco makes available part of the curriculum of the Cisco Networking Academy® Program, which delivers Web-based multimedia-rich educational content to students and working adults on the principles and practice of designing, building and maintaining computer networks.
This includes online testing, student performance tracking, hands-on labs and instructor training and support. The laboratory equipment is provided at no cost to the training centre. The Cisco Networking Academy program offered by ITU Internet Training Centers includes:
- 280 hours of multimedia instruction
- Online testing
- Student performance tracking
- Hands-on laboratory exercise
- Instructor training
- Online technical support
The curriculum, which offers Java, UNIX, voice and data cabling and IT essentials, delivers the range of services and support to grow tomorrow's Internet-savvy global workforce.
How long has Cisco collaborated with ITU and what are the most significant outcomes of this collaboration to date?
Mario Maniewicz: ITU launched the ITC Initiative for developing countries in May 2001, with the aim of providing students and professionals in developing countries with affordable and relevant information technology training in IP networking.
Cisco joined the global initiative as a pioneer partner, offering its Networking Academy Program curricula. The goals of the project at that time included the establishment of 50 Internet Training Centers worldwide by the end of 2003, with an overall female enrolment of 30 percent.
Today there are more than 66 centers in 56 countries worldwide, including 20 in Least Developed Countries. There have been more than 3000 graduates, with more than 3100 students enrolled, including 841 female students.
The ITC Initiative is committed to ensuring that women have access to IT training and that they are encouraged to participate in the Internet economy.
How important is it to have the collaboration of private sector partners such as Cisco in the development work that ITU does?
Mario Maniewicz: The private sector, as innovators and providers of equipment, connectivity, software, services and expertise, and as vital collaborators in the development sector, has an essential role to play in the development activities of ITU.
In the lead up to the World Summit on the Information Society in Tunis in 2005, ITU launched the Connect the World initiative with partners from all sectors to 'connect the unconnected by 2015'.
Cisco has joined this growing movement of stakeholders to work together in bringing the benefits of IT to people everywhere. Overall, some 1 billion people are unconnected and thus marginalized from such benefits.
There are currently 800,000 villages worldwide that lack access to even basic telephone services. This represents about 30 per cent of the total number of villages.
How does ITU hope to build on its relationship with private sector collaborators such as Cisco in the future?
Mario Maniewicz: ITU's Connect the World initiative provides a vehicle to engage stakeholders, share experiences, track progress and launch new alliances with the private sector, governments, international organizations and society.
ITU aims to mobilize these organizations around shared objectives in order to harness collective energies, strengths and resources.
And as an example of this, Nobel Prize Laureate and Managing Director of the Grameen Bank, Professor Muhammad Yunus launched a new partnership with ITU within the Connect the World initiative, called ICT Empowerment Network.
This program aims to combine the Grameen Bank's micro-credit expertise with ITU's leadership in implementing IT development programs and partnerships.
Cisco plans to play a role in this effort by helping ITU extend micro-credit financing to eligible students interested in studying at ITU Internet Training Centers.
We believe that it is not only important to bring in new partners, but also to deepen the relationship with existing partners such as Cisco, with whom we have enjoyed successful collaboration. We are always looking for opportunities to do so.
The Cisco sponsorship of the Telecommunication Development Symposium at TELECOM WORLD 2006 in Hong Kong in December 2006, which is expected to attract as many as 180 participants from 90 developing countries, is another prime example of this continuing collaboration to bridge the digital divide with state-of-the-art technologies.