18 May 2011
AMMAN - A project to incorporate the Cisco training programme into university curricula, to help equip students with cutting-edge networking skills demanded by today's job market, was launched Tuesday.

Called Achieving E-quality in the ICT (AEQ) IV, the project is a collaboration of Cisco, UN WOMEN, the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology and several Jordanian universities. Since 2002, around 4,230 individuals enrolled in the programme's first three phases; some 2,165 students graduated.

The project was launched during the opening of the Cisco Networking Academy annual conference, held under the theme, "The World's Largest Classroom".

Commending the project and its role in balancing gender participation in ICT network training, HRH Princess Sumaya, president of El Hassan Science City, said: "Remembering the role of women in our ICT future makes practical sense. Why would we have any wish to deprive ourselves of 50 per cent of our country's potential for growth and progress?"

In a speech at the opening of the conference, the Princess stressed that offering technology training and education to all is no longer an aspiration but an obligation.

The Princess, also chairman of the board of trustees of Princess Sumaya University for Technology (PSUT), underlined the need to enhance the talent of Jordanians, noting that the future of the country will rest in the hands of motivated and educated information and communications technology professionals.

"This is why we must provide an e-infrastructure that makes the whole world a classroom - one that all of our people can access," the Princess said.

"We live in an age that is changing and reinventing itself at a staggering rate. In the midst of this, technology is allowing the disenfranchised to connect and the marginalised to take centre stage. This technology revolution is fuelled by brainpower and by a daily engagement with the world beyond our age-old communities and their structures," she added.

The two-day conference is attended by delegates from Cisco Networking Academy partner institutions in Jordan, the UAE, Palestine, Lebanon, Qatar, Bahrain, Egypt, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Jordanian participants include PSUT, University of Jordan, Information and Communications Technology, UNRWA, Cisco networking academies, the German-Jordanian University, UN Women and the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology.

Issa Batarseh, president of PSUT, commended the academy's achievements in Jordan, saying that more universities and institutions in the Kingdom have plans to become local Cisco academies under PSUT regional academy.

"This academy will continue serving the university students and local community, incorporating more networking programmes in areas such as wireless networks and Internet security," he said during the opening of the conference.

Batarseh added that PSUT will start a BS programme in electrical power and energy engineering, software engineering and accounting, along with an MSc in electrical engineering and computer security and criminology, starting with the academic year 2011.

Ashraf Arafeh, general manager of Cisco Jordan and Palestine, said Cisco, which started its training programme in Jordan in 1998, has trained over 7,653 Jordanians to date.

He added that Cisco has 20 active Cisco networking academies in the Kingdom and 60 active instructors.

Cisco Networking Academy is a global education programme that teaches students how to design, build, troubleshoot and secure computer networks for increased access to career and economic opportunities in communities around the world. The academy provides online courses, interactive tools, and hands-on learning activities to help individuals prepare for ICT and networking careers in virtually every type of industry.


© Jordan Times 2011