Cisco Launches Knowledge Competition in Latin America to Award and Identify the Best Talents in the Region

MIAMI, FL, Apr 20 (MARKET WIRE) --
Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) today announced the launch of Cisco Networking
Academy NetRiders 2009, a region-wide knowledge competition which aims to
identify and recognize the most promising individuals in networking
technology across most of the countries in Latin America. The competition
includes the approximately 140,000 existing students that are currently
enrolled in the Cisco Networking Academy program in the region.

According to the "Networking Skills Gap in Latin America 2008" study
conducted by IDC, the demand for Latin American professionals with
Internetworking skills will outpace supply by nearly 27 percent by the
year 2010. The shortage equates to nearly 90,000 qualified professionals
to meet the expected demand. Network technologies represent a growth
engine with a powerful influence over sectors in the areas of production,
commerce and services, which helps contribute to the increase of gross
domestic product of the Latin American countries.

Highlights / Key
Facts:

-- NetRiders 2009 is one of the key initiatives under the Cisco Networking
Academy program that Cisco is promoting to foster training and employment
for the Latin American region's socio-economic development.

-- The competition is oriented to students currently enrolled in any Cisco
Networking Academy course, who will have to pass online evaluation tests
based on content related to network design, deploy and management. Prizes
and acknowledgements will be given for the best performers per country or
sub-regions that are part of the Latin American continent -- as described
in the program regulations.

-- There will be three qualifying phases with theoretical and practical
exams in the area of networking. All current students from Cisco Networking
Academy program in the region are eligible to participate and compete for
the best ranked positions, based on performance.

-- The top 20 participants with the highest scores in each country will be
included in a ranking posted on the Cisco
Networking Academy NetRiders 2009 website, with the goal of identifying
top talent. This website will be available for more than 4,500 Cisco
registered channel partners in Latin America, as well as for thousands of
Cisco and non-Cisco users that may require qualified personnel for the
networking areas.

-- Five finalists, representing the different regions of Latin America,
will remain after the third phase of the competition, all of whom will
compete to obtain the first place in the Cisco Networking Academy NetRiders
2009.

-- Registration for the Cisco Networking Academy NetRiders 2009 starts on
April 20th of 2009, at
http://www.cisco.com/web/LA/netacad/netriders/index.html

Links / URLs:

-- Cisco
Networking Academy NetRiders 2009 site

-- Academy
Connection Latin America site

--
Demand for Networking Skills Grows in Latin America press
release

Supporting Quotes:

-- Jaime Valles, vice president, Cisco Latin America

"Through this type of initiative of using technology for education, we
have two major goals: We are looking to create awareness around technology
talent that can be available to the Latin American employers and to
continue to invest together with our Academic Partners in generating
greater volume of qualified resources in order to improve the socio
economic development of our countries in this information era."

"Internet extends education, communication and collaboration to each person
connected to a network, and makes time and place irrelevant. Any country
that can offer employees with adequate training and skills will be better
equipped for the future."

-- Ricardo Santos, regional manager, Networking Academy, Cisco Latin
America

"Education in the 21st Century is largely based on a new environment that
includes collaboration and innovative ways of using technology to foster
the learning process as required by today's students and labor market.
Cisco Networking Academy NetRiders 2009 is a unique opportunity for
thousands of students to collaborate, compete, have fun as they learn,
obtain international experience, and recognition for their knowledge in the
management of network technologies. Additionally, those best rated will
have a real awareness opportunity to be accessed by the employment market."

Tags / Keywords:
Cisco Networking Academy, Talent development,
Networking Skills Gap, Education

About the Cisco Networking Academy

Launched in 1997, the Cisco Networking Academy is a collaboration among
Cisco, education, business, government and community organizations around
the world, aimed at nurturing IT professionals. The program employs an
e-learning model, using a combination of Web-based and instructor-led
training along with a hands-on lab environment to teach students how to
design, build and maintain computer networks. Worldwide, have more than
2.75 million students from a total of approximately 9,000 academies in 165
countries.

About Cisco Systems

Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) is the worldwide leader in networking that transforms
how people connect, communicate and collaborate. Information about Cisco
can be found at http://www.cisco.com. For ongoing news, please go to
http://newsroom.cisco.com.

Cisco, the Cisco logo, Cisco Systems and Networking Academy are registered
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