Inauguration of the first Cisco Academy in Cuba opened at UCI. Photo: Alberto Medina Cruz
First Cisco Academy in Cuba opens its doors at UCI
Inauguration of the first Cisco Academy in Cuba opened at UCI. Photo: Alberto Medina Cruz
Cisco Systems, world leader in network and infrastructure solutions, inaugurated the first Academy of its kind in Cuba on Tuesday, June 19, at the University of Informatics Sciences (UCI).
The opening ceremony was attended by the rector of this university, Dr. Sc. Miriam Nicado García; the Vice President of Corporate Affairs at Cisco, Laura Quintana; executives from this global company based in San Jose, California; representatives from Minrex and the Ministry of Higher Education, members of the University Council, instructors and students.
The opening speech was given by Vice President Laura Quintana, who highlighted how special the day was because of the partnership being formed here, as Cisco's contribution is to play a part in the development of the technical skills of students and instructors, in order to support the transformation that the world is going through thanks to information and communications technologies.
In addition, the executive said that more than eight million people around the world have gained experience with the Cisco program for over 20 years, and that partnership with UCI will have a positive impact and will also contribute to the country's digital development.
The Deputy Rector in this house of higher studies, Dr. Sc.. Raydel Montesino Perurena, welcomed the attendees and announced in his speech that the Cisco Academy is added to the undergraduate and graduate programs of the University, thus fulfilling the objective of supporting the computerization of the Cuban society.
Perurena commented that the first 19 Cisco instructors have already been trained, out of whom fourteen are professors at UCI, and the other five are from the University of Pinar del Río, Cujae, UCLV, the University of Oriente, and the Ministry of Higher Education respectively.
According to the Deputy Rector, the program consists of four modules covering topics related to networks; each year several editions will be developed to train around 100 professionals in network configuration and network administration profiles.
In the recently started edition, in addition to professors and specialists from this campus, others from Etecsa, Osri, Segurmática, Xetid, Desoft, Censa and the Agrarian University of Havana are also enrolled.
In an exchange with the first trained instructors and the new students in one of the classrooms of the academy, Laura Quintana praised the grades obtained by the Cuban instructors, as their averages were the highest among those from Latin America.
Cisco Academy is also part of the Innovative University concept, which combines scientific research, technological innovation, high-level training and the development of value-added products and services in the ICT area.
A further step in the process of developing a more computerized and advanced country, opens its space at UCI for training better professionals through an e-learning model.
Laura Quintana, Vice President of Corporate Affairs at Cisco, said the company has more than 10,400 instructors worldwide.
In his speech, UCI’s Deputy-Rector thanked Cisco for its support, the Technological Institute of the Americas of the Dominican Republic for facilitating the training of the first instructors, the Ministry of Higher Education, the Ministry of Communications, Minrex and all the other institutions that collaborated to make this project come true.
Inauguration of the Cisco Academy at UCI.
The Academy was inaugurated by UCI Rector Dr. Sc. Miriam Nicado García and Cisco Vice President of Corporate Affairs, Laura Quintana.
Cisco executives exchanged with students and instructors in one of the classrooms of the Academy.