Riyadh, Asharq Al-Awsat- The first networking university program entitled Netversity will be launched in Riyadh, it was announced this week.
In cooperation with the Prince Sultan University, Cisco Netversity announced the launch of the program with the aim of bringing global technical experiences and skills to Saudi Arabia, resolving the lack of networking skills in the country and meeting demand for local networking professionals in the region.
Cisco Systems states that it will qualify university graduates in the region and provide them with the necessary skills to meet the needs of the local market in light of an increasing global interest in developing communications and information technology in Saudi Arabia.
General Manager of Saudi Arabia Cisco Systems, Badr al Badr stated during the launch that the company will provide courses, training and curricula to qualify top students of Saudi universities to embark on the field of networking and offer employment opportunities within the company upon completion of training.
In this regard, the president of Prince Sultan University, Dr Ahmed Yamani indicated that the university would seek to provide all the necessary tools such as lecture halls, laboratories, training and teaching equipment in order to contribute to the development of the field of information technology and communications for it to be on par with developed countries, describing it as a crucial field.
Dr Yamani further highlighted that the strategic objective of the program is to bridge the digital gap in Saudi Arabia by training graduates and that demand for such skills in the country would exceed supply by 33% by 2009 according to a survey conducted by the IDC institute for research last year.
The Cisco Netversity program represents the most distinctive strategic training and educational initiative in the Saudi capital including the establishment of 100 networking academies over the next five years to provide courses in cooperation with the Prince Sultan University. There are currently 95 networking academies in Saudi Arabia that have enrolled over 3200 students.