Cisco (News - Alert) has entered into an agreement with the government of Portugal to improve access to networking training, narrow the ICT skills gap, and increase employment opportunities. The prime minister of Portugal, Jose Socrates, together with nine Ministers recently signed a broad agreement with Cisco to this end.

 

The agreement was signed during the official inauguration of the new Cisco office in Lisbon, which includes the latest Cisco Telepresence (News - Alert) technology. As well as being the center for Cisco’s Portugal operations, the facility also houses the European Hercules center.

 

The new pact is aimed to help bridge the anticipated skills gap in the networking sector through the expansion of Cisco’s Networking Academy across Portugal. As a result, the number of people studying information and communications technology (ICT) in the country is expected grow from around 3,000 to 10,000 by 2011.

 

Local networking academies will be opened throughout Portugal in universities, polytechnics, secondary schools, professional training centers, NGOs, prisons, and army and security training centers. The agreement also includes a broad set of parallel initiatives such as cooperation in traineeships.

 

The ICT skills gap is a significant challenge to organizations, hindering advanced technology adoption, business competitiveness and economic growth. A shortage could hold back Europe’s competitiveness in the global market and hinder the European Commission’s policy goals.

 

“We welcome the vision and openness of Portugal’s political leaders to partner with the ICT industry,” said Chris Dedicoat, president of Cisco Europe. “We believe that the set of initiatives defined in this agreement will boost the country’s capabilities to compete in the global arena, well in line with Portugal’s historical credits as the first truly global nation in the world,”

 

Virginia Pojo, a Cisco Networking Academy instructor from Porto, added, “As a teacher, Cisco Networking Academy allows me to know and understand the language of my students as future entrepreneurs of the Information Society. Cisco Networking Academy opens the door to a life of opportunities and gives you skills that change the way you look at the world.”