Cisco commits $100 million to drive digital acceleration of Italy
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Cisco is pursuing investment opportunities together with Invitalia Ventures.
Cisco will expand its already successful Networking Academy program designed to equip people with the skills to succeed in today and tomorrow’s increasingly connected world, with courses focused on industry 4.0 and cybersecurity technologies.
Cisco, as the first step in developing the Italian startup ecosystem, is pursuing investment opportunities together with Invitalia Ventures, a national venture capital firm. This will enable Cisco to invest in the development of the best national startups and encourage hi-tech innovation in Italy.
Cisco also announced that on the basis of this commitment, it will pursue in the next three years initiatives related to research and development, collaboration with Italian universities, and initiatives to accelerate digital transformation in two Italian industries of excellence, manufacturing and agrifood business.
Cisco will continue investing in Research and Development efforts within Cisco Photonics laboratories, based in Vimercate (MB), Italy. These labs lead global Cisco R&D activities focused on technologies for optical networks and have a long-standing collaboration with the most important Italian academic research centers. ■