New Delhi, India, March 21, 2016: Cisco has announced a planned series of strategic investments in India that will total over US $100 million including US $40 million to fund early-stage and growth-stage companies in the country and train 250,000 students in India by 2020.
It said in a press release that it would collaborate closely with state governments in India on strategic initiatives including the addition of 6 new innovation labs, 3 centers of expertise, funded university collaborations and skills investments. Cisco made the announcement in the presence of John Chambers, Executive Chairman, Cisco; Irving Tan, President, Cisco Asia Pacific & Japan; and Dinesh Malkani, President, Cisco India and SAARC. The new activities form part of Cisco’s global ‘Country Digitization Acceleration’ or CDA program, whereby select countries across the world receive major strategic investment to accelerate existing government goals for driving economic growth through high-tech innovation.
Expansion of commitment to ‘Skill India’ vision: enable skills and education for a digital economy
Cisco doubled its plan to help Indian students acquire the skills necessary for 21st century jobs. By combining technology and education, Cisco said it had set a goal of creating a pipeline of 250,000 skilled students in India by 2020 and a marketplace for high value technology based careers. As part of Cisco’s commitment to accelerate India’s digital transformation, the company will also expand the Cisco Networking Academy program to help India increase its pool of highly skilled technology professionals and expand its accessibility to education, research and technology. The Cisco Networking Academy in India was one of the largest programs for Cisco worldwide. Across 176 academies nationwide, over 110,000 students had been trained since its inception through arrangements with educational institutions, public sector agencies, and nonprofit organizations.
Renewed commitment to ‘Start-Up India’ vision and the innovation ecosystem: increased allocation of funds
Today’s financial commitment including an allocation of US $40 million to promote the growth of early-stage and growth stage companies, marked a new phase of support for innovation in India and aligned to the country’s digital transformation agenda. Cisco’s focus will be on next generation technologies such as security, Cloud, and the Internet of Things as well as digital plays in smart cities, financial services, healthcare, e-governance.
Accelerate the digital transformation of states and expand opportunities for its citizens
As part of today’s announcement, Cisco intends to launch 6 innovation labs, 3 centres of expertise and funded university collaborations, across select states in India, that offer opportunities for diverse groups of entrepreneurs, start-ups, accelerators, developers, researchers, ecosystem partners and the venture community to build businesses and innovate in digital technologies, smart cities and the Internet of Things.