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Update on Cisco Live! – World’s Leading Technologies Together in JHB

Published

on October 10, 2008

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Cisco Live! is the Cisco annual ‘Networkers’ conference. For the first time ever the will be held in Sandton, Johannesburg on 1st – 4th December 2008. Cisco Live! will be the place for network engineers from all over Africa gather for technical training, education and networking. For the past eleven years, the conference has been at the forefront of educating delegates on new technologies.

The Cisco Live! conference will incorporate a new concept ‘Networkers at Cisco Live!’ with a mix of technical and business offerings. This format broadens traditional technical focused meet-ups to include executive tracks that examine the role of technology in driving business value in a challenging economic climate. The theme of this year’s conference is ‘The Power of Collaboration’ and delegates can look forward to thought-provoking keynotes from local and international Cisco executives and industry experts.

Networkers at Cisco Live! will be held at the Sandton Convention Centre and will attract more than 1,500 delegates, making it the largest Networkers conference in South Africa to date. The program will comprise various sessions, ranging from technical trainings to an invitation-only executive symposium. Delegates will also have the opportunity to view the World of Solutions demonstration area, which will showcase collaboration and communication tools and technology, such as TelePresence.

A Word from Steve Midgley the Managing Director of Cisco South Africa

“South Africa is the first country outside the United States to introduce the Cisco Live! brand. With Cisco Live!, we are taking the event to the next level to provide a platform where industry players can learn new technologies, discuss business trends, share ideas and network,” said Steve Midgley, Managing Director, Cisco Systems South Africa.“In recent years, specialization, globalization and new technologies have resulted in more collaborative environments made up of global, virtual networks and communities that improvise and find more productive, innovative and faster ways to do business. Cisco puts communications and collaboration capabilities within the context of a business process to allow workers increase their productivity, speed and agility,” added Midgley.

Speakers

Rick Hutley, vice president of Global Innovations for Cisco Internet Business Solutions Group, will be a keynote speaker at the event. Hutley, responsible for engaging Cisco’s largest global customers, will discuss the role of collaborative technologies in addressing the key business challenges and opportunities faced by organisations today.

Also speaking at the conference will be World Wide Worx’s Arthur Goldstuck, who will present findings from the Cisco-sponsored Internet Access in South Africa 2008 research report. Goldstuck’s presentation will cover the latest trends in Internet access and will set the scene for a discussion around the future of connectivity in South Africa, which plays a crucial role in collaboration.

For more information on Networkers at Cisco Live! www.networkersafrica.co.za

Cisco invests $27 Million in South Africa

Published

Deon Botha

on September 16, 2008

in Asides, Cisco Systems and Vine

. 0 Comments

So yesterday it became official that Cisco Systems, Inc. is going to be investing ZAR 215,000,000 in South Africa (USD 27,000,000) love the naughts makes it looks like REAL money. The investment will go to the Cisco Innovation Hub Technology Centre (CIHTC) that will be become the home of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) initiatives including an InnovationLab, a global Talent Acquisition Programme, the Cisco Netversity, an Entrepreneur Institute and a Software Development Programme.

This investment is expected to collectively drive a R1bn gross domestic product (GDP) effect over an initial five year period. The 3000 square metre CIHT Centre will be based at the Innovation Hub (accross the CSIR) in Pretoria, South Africa.

The CIHTC complex will be an advanced tech incubation centre aimed at fostering and developing local skills, intellectual property, entrepreneurship and solution development capabilities in the ICT sector. The implications of this is 200 direct and 800 indirect employment opportunities and development of intellectual property, the training and certification of design and network engineers, local software development, state of the art network communication laboratories (maybe even CCIE and practice labs, hold thumbs!!!!), access to business guidance and a showcase for venture capital providers looking to fund solutions or businesses that result from Centre Operations.

In the words of Steve Midgley, Managing Director of Cisco South Africa “South Africa is on the brink of entering a broadband boom,” which in turn will “change the way people live and work – giving the public sector and business the opportunity to gain significant efficiencies, to drive productivity enhancements, to achieve cost reductions and to gain access to new market segments within their existing business models. It will also create an enabling platform from which new business models can be created. Cisco is investing in this initiative now to ensure that when the broadband revolution really kicks off, South Africa has enough of the right kind of skills, solutions creation capabilities and intellectual property to leverage the many benefits broadband will bring to the country.”

Cisco South Africa Partner Career Day

Published

Deon Botha

on July 15, 2008

in Cisco Systems and Vine

. 0 Comments

So I attended the Cisco South Africa Career Day 2008 and it was well worth going. The event was hosted by Cisco in conjunction with the Cisco Networking Academy and the University of Pretoria.

A way that I have used to gauge the importance of an event has been to look at the “headline” act. In todays case the introduction was done my General Manager of Cisco Systems, Mr Steve Midgley and the key note address was given by Deputy Minister of Education Mr Enver Surty.

The drill-down of the presentations was that there is a skills shortage and there are initiatives already happening and in the pipelines to help address this global problem.

The event took place at the the University of Pretoria in the Entertainment Hall and Lecture Room 100 and centred around the development and availability of skill in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Sector mainly locally but also touched on it globally (China and India).

The event was held at the University of Pretoria to provide Cisco Networking Academy graduates the opportunity to get some “face time” with Cisco channel partners. The event provided the Cisco partners an opportunity to meet the future talent and interview graduates face-to-face. This exposed Cisco Networking Academy graduates to openings within Partner organisations, while allowing Partners to asses prospective employees.

From Cisco systems there was a clear message that they were going to be actively involved in developing and building the skills needed to assist partners and in turn the local economy through various initiatives. They drove this message home by making this the “public” launch of the Cisco Talent Partner Portal that I posted about here 2 weeks ago.

I stole a few business cards myself and talked to some of the bigger partners, one never knows when that might come in handy.

Kudos again to JP for organizing the invite.

Network Ninja

Tag Archive for 'Steve Midgley'

Update on Cisco Live! – World’s Leading Technologies Together in JHB

Cisco invests $27 Million in South Africa

Cisco South Africa Partner Career Day

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