News and Events

EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM FOR THE FUTURE

Aspira de Puerto Rico and Cisco Systems, Inc. have announced an educational program that will prepare Puerto Ricans to manage the Internet networks that have become the medium of choice for operating almost all types of businesses.

The Internet has been described as the revolutionary force in our lives, redefining the way we communicate, work, trade, and play. Cisco Systems is the world leader in the field of Internet networks, and is committed to developing in our people the skills necessary to achieve success in the business world of the future. On the other hand, Aspira de Puerto Rico is the veteran agency in the educational field, focused on developing specialized skills and leadership potential in its alumni, having seen most of them reach positions of great value in our community.

Together, both organizations have turned to the task of preparing our people to manage and master this new way of developing the world's economies.

High-tech industry in the U.S. has enjoyed such spectacular growth that it has generated fully 27 percent of the GNP just in the last three years. This growth, in turn, has generated an unprecedented demand for employees who know information technology. Recent studies indicate that 346,000 job vacancies exist in the field, and the rate of growth of the sector is projected at 108 percent.

This situation has forced companies to import technicians from the Far East countries and Oceania, where there is plenty of this specialized knowledge, and even has led entire enterprises to relocate to those places looking for the required skills, creating unemployment in the U.S.

To counteract these negative developments, Cisco has utilized its leadership position in the design and management of Internet networks to establish a program of academies for training people in the basic skills of this technology.

Aspira de Puerto Rico has received a license from Cisco to operate a regional academy and other local academies throughout the island, in which students will receive training that will entitle them to the Cisco Certified Networking Associate certification.

These students could easily get work as instructors in the local academies, or in the growing number of companies both here and in the U.S. that have an urgent need for such technicians, or if they prefer they may even set up their own businesses.

"We're talking here of the skills you need to master to be successful in today's global economy," according to Juan Segarra, Cisco Systems Country Manager for Puerto Rico. "That's why Cisco is putting within reach of enterprising Puerto Ricans the knowledge we have as leaders in this field."

"The subject is no longer open to discussion," added Hilda Maldonado, Executive Director of Aspira de Puerto Rico. "We either get up to speed with the new technology, or Puerto Rico will be left so far behind it will never be able to catch up with the countries that will know enough to take advantage of this unique opportunity."

The course consists of 300 hours of classes, divided into four segments. Not only have several large companies needing the Internet to do business expressed an interest in the program, so have various municipal consortiums that have been established under Federal law to serve as economic incubators on a municipal level.

For more information on the courses, interested parties may call ASPIRA de Puerto Rico (787) 620-4690.