A future outlined by AI, hyper safety, and fixed change has introduced into focus the significance of guaranteeing subsets of our world’s inhabitants aren’t left behind. We should be diligent in bringing individuals alongside and to do that we’re pursuing what we at Cisco can meaningfully affect – utilizing our know-how, our individuals, and our networks to assist shut the digital divide. Each particular person has the suitable to thrive in our more and more related world, and 4 years in the past Cisco codified this perception with our Social Justice Beliefs and Our Dedication to Motion – our plan to actively dismantle limitations and create alternatives for underrepresented communities around the globe.
As a part of this, we promised to be daring and deliberate in our assist of the Black neighborhood and to assist Traditionally Black Schools and Universities (HBCUs) flourish. America’s HBCUs are treasured establishments and cornerstones of academic excellence and cultural heritage in our nation. In 2020 we confirmed our dedication to their future with a $150 million donation over 5 years for STEM education schemes and know-how modernization.
Co-innovating with HBCUs for lasting change
Whereas Cisco’s is the only largest donation from a company within the historical past of HBCUs, our assist is greater than monetary. We’re dedicated to co-innovating with HBCUs to create lasting change, specializing in 4 foundational areas:
- supporting Science, Expertise, Engineering & Math (STEM) college students
- constructing technological excellence
- selling success earlier than and past commencement
- advancing info sharing and engagement
Collectively for 3 years now, we’ve got been sowing seeds of innovation, inclusion, and inspiration to assist Black leaders put together to thrive within the AI period. Thus far, Cisco and HBCUs labored aspect by aspect with an ecosystem of Companion organizations, every leveraging distinctive strengths, and all devoted to driving systemic change. Collectively, we:
- donated $66 million in providers and software program to HBCUs
- accomplished 46 Nationwide Institute of Requirements and Expertise (NIST) assessments and 30 know-how installations at HBCUs
- (in doing above) preserved $1.5 billion in HBCU Title IV funding by providers and software program wanted for the required NIST compliance
- launched the Cisco Cyber Academy at Denmark Technical Institute, a two-year HBCU positioned in rural Bamberg County, South Carolina.
As our partnerships with HBCUs and companion organizations mature and strengthen, our impression expands. We’re wanting ahead to sharing an equally vital checklist of achievements in our fourth yr!
Approaching challenges from an ecosystem perspective
Greater than something, our work with HBCUs has proven the progress and prospects we create once we method challenges from an ecosystem perspective. The interconnectedness of our world means we’re all diminished by social injustice, and that all of us play a job in constructing a extra simply and inclusive future. Bringing collectively an ecosystem of Cisco Companions has been essential to offering HBCUs the assist they want by assessing collaborating colleges’ IT infrastructures, recommending upgrades, and donating providers and tools to make sure colleges have the most recent cybersecurity know-how
An Inspiring Success Story: Denmark Tech’s ecosystem at work
Listening to instantly from Denmark Tech President and CEO, Dr. Willie L. Todd Jr. makes what we’re doing much more compelling.
A brighter future is already evident within the Denmark Tech area – one which has traditionally seen restricted jobs and academic alternatives. Dr. Todd focuses on his collaboration with Cisco and connections throughout our companion ecosystem to ensure the success story continues.
Working with Procellis, a member of the African American Cisco Companion Group (AACPC), Cisco donated tools and providers to improve Denmark Tech’s IT infrastructure to make sure they might meet NIST cybersecurity requirements.
Cisco additionally related Denmark Tech with Fusion Cyber, an organization that collaborates with faculties and universities to supply complete on-line cybersecurity coaching.
This career-oriented program encompasses certification, mentorship, and job teaching to equip college students for careers in cybersecurity. Dr. Todd noticed how this system may change the trajectory of his college students’ lives and the encircling communities they serve. He launched the coaching in 2021 to upskill college students for jobs within the cybersecurity subject, serving to them create generational wealth. Thus far, this system has graduated 59 college students together with veterans, ladies, and different underserved teams, and plans to broaden are within the works. Graduates of this system can keep of their neighborhood, positively impacting the native financial system and bringing a renewed sense of hope and optimism to the area.
Safety and the workforce of the longer term – the dangers and rewards of AI
Globalization, digitization, and AI developments have made our world progressively interconnected. Whereas the advantages of AI are unimaginable to contemplate, so are the threats. Cybersecurity is now foundational to a protected and affluent future for organizations around the globe – together with HBCUs. The World Financial Discussion board estimates that 3 – 4 million cybersecurity specialists are wanted to assist the present international financial system, however a essential scarcity of cybersecurity specialists is creating a spot that places the world’s digital property in danger. Denmark Technical School is the twenty seventh HBCU providing Cisco’s Networking Academy curriculum with applications in networking, cybersecurity, Python, and information science – all designed to construct job-ready expertise in order that school and workers can each profit from the AI financial system and assist defend it.
We proceed to problem ourselves to drive better social impression realizing that with each individual we prepare, each college we join, each school we allow, and each neighborhood we empower, we’re advancing Cisco’s Function to energy an inclusive future for all – as a result of inclusivity is not only a societal very best, however a elementary human proper.
—Dr. Willie L. Todd Jr., Denmark Technical School President and CEO
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