The Internet of Everything and the Case of Barcelona Smart City Proposed by Cisco Networking Academy

The Cisco Networking Academy Partner Summit 2014 took place on the 22 and the 23 of October in Barcelona. Established in 1997, Cisco NetAcad is a non-commercial ICT programme with 10,000 academies in 165 countries which has contributed 348 million euros in-kind contribution to education since its inception in Europe. Cisco is a partner of the “Grand Coalition for Digital Jobs”, an EU-wide multi-skateholder partnership launched by the European Commision, with the aim of increasing the Number of ICT skulled professionals by 2015, so that shortage is resolved by 2020.

“We firmly believe that combined efforts by the Government, Business, and Academia to train people to gain the necessary skills can combat youth unemployment and will ensure the sucess of the European economy and society”, Piotr Pluta, Senior Manager Affairs at Cisco Systems.

During the Networking Academy Partner Summit, Cisco NetAcad announced the first global “Internet of Everything” (IoE) curriculum. In an increasingly interconnected and interdependent world, there is the need for transformative educational programs that enables learners to resolve challenges related to sustainable development that concern all humanity. In a globalized world, education is expected to facilitate international cooperation and promote social transformation. And with increasing interconnectedness, the main subject of the “Introduction of the Internet of Everything” course is focused in ICT skills development and empowerment of the next generations of innovators.

Elena M. Esquinal, CSR Spain, adds, “There are not any prerequisites for taking our courses. Students do not need previous experience to enroll because Networking Academy methodology integrates four skill areas identified by education researchers as critical for 21st century workers: problem solving and decision making; creative and critical thinking; collaboration, communication and negotiation; and intellectual curiosity and information handling.”

At the dawn of the third millennium, talking about education means adopting a new epistemological perspective that enables a holistic understanding of the complex problems derived from economic, political and socio-cultural globalization. In this sense, the ambitious Cisco Netwworking Academy IoE curriculum is an important initiative which aims to provide future generations with a new overview for the future. After more than 9,000 instructors have trained around 1,500,000 students in the last years, the “Introduction to the Internet of Everything” course will discuss the Internet and its evolution to the interconnection of people, processes, data, and things that forms the Internet of Everything. That is, an extensive cosmic matrix in which everything is in perpetual movement and structuring energetically, confirming that this unity of the world-society is not static. Currently offered in english, the course will be available in five further languages (Chinese, French, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish) and rolled out progressively from Spring 2015 onwards. 

Thereby, the multidisciplinary curriculum of Cisco NetAcad is in accordance with the First International UNESCO Forum “Global Citizenship Education: Preparing Learners for the Challenge of the 21st Century“ celebrated in Bangkok last year 2013 to support the campaign launched by the Secretary of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, the “Global Education First Initiative“. As it can be read at the points 1.2.1 and 3.1.3 cited in the document “Global Citizenship Education: An Emerging Perspective“:

1.2.1. Phenomenal advances in information and communication technologies (ICTs) have enabled people to connect and interact with others around the globe anywhere, anytime. This has contributed to an intensified perception and reality of being inter-connected and living beyond local perimeters, albeit virtually.

3.1.3. There is a need to support youthled initiatives. Partners with civil society are also need. Utilisation of new ITCs is critical. New Approaches may meet with reservation and/or resistance. An emerging perspective on global citizenship education, however, maintains the need for stakeholders and actors to be open to different, but effective venues and solutions.

“This connected network presents a huge opportunity for the technology industry and could transform how we do business, consume goods and go about our daily lives. However, realisisng this potential depends on individuals having the skills and knowledge to harness the opportunities provided by IoE. Our new IoE curriculum offers a fantastic springboard for anyone wanting to seize this opportunity”

Every year, one million Networking Academy students worldwide gain the skills needed to build, design, and maintain computer networks; improving their carrer prospects while filling the global demand for networking professionals. Using the cases of Leonardo Da Vinci and Thomas Edison as examples, Giuseppe Cinque, Product Manager IoE, comments “they are examples to inspire our youth people to be part of this development and make sure that technological possible solutions also have the societal value that is needed to solve today´s problems and challenges“. 

.“Future is Software-based“, adds John Baekelmans, chief technology officer of the Internet of Everything Solutions Group. “Business models will be cloud-centric and hosted. Every week there are more than 50,000 new applications for our tablets and smart phones, an extraordinary number compared with 250 books per week“, adds visionary Baekelmans.

“It seems fitting to announce this course in the city of Barcelona, which has thoroughly embraced the Internet of everything, creating 47,000 jobs related to the “smart” city. We hope the initiative will be part of a global movement to give the next generation the skills to meet soaring demand for networking job roles, and become part of a phenomenon, which will change the world”.

“Our project is about a city model focused in the services for the citizens of the next 20 years. If you take a look into the future, everything will be around the technology. For us, Barcelona Smart City means the 5.0 transformation in the city: 1.0 was the Roman city, 2.0 the Medieval city, 3.0 the Industrial Revolution, and the last one was the 4.0 for the Olympic Games in 1992.”

.