MOSCOW – July 2, 2012 – Cisco and Sistema JSFC, Russia's largest publicly listed investment company, signed a memorandum of understanding at "Social Lifts for Talented Youth - Best Russian Experience", the first such conference held by Sistema in cooperation with Moscow State Lomonosov University and Vedomosti daily newspaper. The document will enhance cooperation between Sistema and Cisco in improving the quality of ICT education in the educational establishments that are engaged in the "Lift to the Future" project.
According to the MoU, Cisco will donate network equipment and provide access to its education programs. In addition, the company will carry out skills-upgrade courses for teachers of the educational establishments involved in the project. From its own side, Sistema will help Cisco to expand the Cisco Networking Academy™ program in Russia. Moreover, both companies intend to collaborate in launching student competitions, forums and summer schools to support talented Russian youth.
Key Facts / Highlights
- In June 2011 Cisco announced long-term initiatives aimed at the development and modernization of IT education in Russia at all levels. Also, these initiatives envision retraining unemployed people and those suffering from economic hardships. By 2015 the number of networking academies in Russia should triple (from 217 in June 2011 to 650) while the number of students reaches 16,000. At the moment, 263 academies already operate in Russia.
- Besides its Networking Academy® program, Cisco fulfills a wide range of education initiatives in Russia. Thus, the annual Cisco Expo conference in Moscow provides network specialists with a unique opportunity for education and skills upgrade. Last year it was attended by 3,104 professionals, analysts and journalists earning the title of Russia's largest ICT events.
- In 2009 the Cisco Expo Learning Club was set up in Russia. This unique program is focused on raising the competence level of local ICT professionals. Today it is the largest skills-upgrade institution for networking specialists in Russia and other CIS countries (at present the club has 9,696 members, which became possible due to Cisco WebEx® online conferencing software).
- "Lift to the Future" is a project launched by Sistema to search, help and develop talented youth at high schools and universities. The project aims to build Russia's first youth tutorage network. The mission of a tutor is to help a student set up an individual roadmap of education and social development. The tutors will be selected from popular professionals operating in various industries, including academia, research, civil service, creative arts and sports.
Supporting Quotes:
Paul Betsis, GM, Cisco RCIS:
"Cisco has been cooperating with AFK Sistema for a long time, and we are very happy to find one more area for cooperation. For many years our activities in Russia have been focused on comprehensive support for innovative development of the Russian economy and on modernization of the local education system. Participation in the "Lift to the Future" project not only offers us broad opportunities to develop - well into the future - our relations with AFK Sistema in the educational field, but also helps us to comply with the commitments made two years ago by the top management of our company at the meeting with then-President Dmitry Medvedev."
Elena Shmeleva, vice-president, Sistema Charity Foundation:
"Cisco was the first company to support the "Lift to the Future" project". Of course, partnership with Cisco, the global leader in networking technologies, is very important for us. Education content provided by Cisco, as well as its unique training methodology will become a basis for training skilled ICT professionals and supporting Russian IT education within this project."
Tags, Keywords: Russia, Cisco, Networking Academy, WebEx
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About Cisco
Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) is the worldwide leader in networking that transforms how people connect, communicate and collaborate. Information about Cisco can be found at http://www.cisco.com. For ongoing news, please go to http://newsroom.cisco.com. Cisco equipment in Russia is supplied through its authorized channel partners by Cisco Systems International BV, a wholly owned subsidiary of Cisco Systems, Inc.
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