The University of Luxembourg and Cisco announced the opening of a Cisco Networking Academy® on the University campus, the first Networking Academy® in a higher education institution in the country. Opening this Networking Academy is an important step towards increasing digital literacy and specialized IT knowledge in the Grand Duchy. The modernization of the education system with new technologies and curricula is an important part of the Country Digital Acceleration program the Luxembourg Government and Cisco recently announced.
Cisco® Networking Academy provides a broad and deep IT curriculum for students of all backgrounds, teaching the hands-on technical and business skills they need to succeed. Additionally, with many industries experiencing a shortage of IT talent, Cisco Networking Academy seeks to give students the skills most in demand worldwide and helps create a trained, diverse workforce for the digital economy.
The core focus of the curriculum stays true to Cisco's expertise in networking and security, while it also offers coursework in emerging fields such as Internet of Things and data analytics in alignment with the future of education and business trends. The Networking Academy learning experience includes an e-learning curriculum, personalized assessments and hands-on opportunities such as labs, networking simulation software, competitions, and hackathons. First courses at the University of Luxembourg will start in September 2018.
Over the past 20 years, Cisco Networking Academies educated 7,8 million students in 170 countries.
Chuck Robbins, Chairman and CEO of Cisco, commented: “Luxembourg’s workforce is central to accelerating the country’s vision to be a digital leader. As rapid technological advancements open up greater opportunities and create new markets, new roles will emerge across industries. Helping people develop the skills they need to benefit from the digital economy is essential, and Cisco is proud to partner with the University of Luxembourg to open a Cisco Networking Academy to provide the digital skills needed to enable both people and businesses to succeed.”
Professor Stéphane Pallage, Rector of the University of Luxembourg: “Partnering with Cisco opens a world of opportunities for our university. Education is one of the cornerstones of the country’s Digital Acceleration Program and we are proud to play an active part in it.”
Research into digital education of the future
The opening of the Cisco Networking Academy is part of the University’s strategy to test new technologies and learning methods for future education in the Grand Duchy. On its new campus, the University of Luxembourg has built a user lab and a learning center where it will develop innovative teaching and learning methods for primary, secondary, higher and adult education. With that, the university wants to further optimize the learning experience of students and lecturers in the light of the broad digitization of our society.
Romain Martin, Vice-President for Academic Affairs at the University of Luxembourg: "Digitization does not only mean that we offer learning material in digital form or communicate with students through digital channels. Digital learning goes beyond the classroom. New technologies and collaboration tools enable combining traditional forms of education with, for example, peer learning, to create new learning experiences. We can best achieve this in collaboration with strong technology partners such as Cisco. And with Networking Academy, we provide extra transferable digital skills in the country as outlined in the government's plan Digital Lëtzebuerg."
"Cisco's strong understanding of digitization, technology trends and skills all shape the Cisco Networking Academy learning portfolio. We strongly believe that as the world digitizes, it is our responsibility to work together with academia and governments to help educate the workforce of the future," says Romain Siebenaler, Country Manager Cisco Luxembourg. “Over the next months, we plan to extend the cooperation between the University of Luxembourg and Cisco beyond Networking Academy. We are looking to work together and design, test and constantly improve the tools and settings and develop efficient learning environments for the digital world.”
About CDA
Cisco developed the concept of Country Digital Acceleration to stimulate global digitization. Cisco is collaborating with governments in 16 countries to strengthen digital research and education, stimulate digital entrepreneurship, accelerate innovation, develop new economic clusters and improve national infrastructure. Each CDA programme has been developed to meet the needs of the respective country. So far, more than 250 projects have been launched on smarter transport, smart cities, eHealth and connected education. More information at https://newsroom.cisco.com/cda.
About Cisco
Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) is the worldwide technology leader that has been making the Internet work since 1984. Our people, products, and partners help society securely connect and seize tomorrow’s digital opportunity today. Discover more at thenetwork.cisco.com and follow us on Twitter at @Cisco.
