The “Smile Academy of Education & Training”of the Organization "The Smile of the Child" has launched the Cisco NetAcad Social Digital Academy, with the valuable support of Cisco Greece.
02 March 2022
PRESS RELEASE
Athens 02 March 2022
The “Smile Academy of Education & Training”of the Organization "The Smile of the Child" has launched the Cisco NetAcad Social Digital Academy, with the valuable support of Cisco Greece.
"The Smile of the Child", as part of the Organization's Smile Academy of Education and Training, is pleased to announce the launch of the Cisco NetAcad Social Digital Academy - a digital skills training program for young people and newcomers.
Cisco NetAcad is an international Information and Communication Technology (ICT) oriented digital skills training program that enables trainees to acquire the theoretical and practical knowledge and equipment required to succeed in the field of New Technologies and the Digital Economy.
"The Smile of the Child" announced the official launch of the Cisco NetAcad Social Digital Academy, with the valuable support of Cisco Greece, during a meeting which was held on Tuesday, March 1, 2022 at the premises of “The Smile of the Child” in Athens, Greece, with the participation of Mr. Costas Giannopoulos, President of the Organization "The Smile of the Child", Mr. Antonis Tsimpoukis, Cisco's CEO in Greece, Cyprus, Malta, and Portugal, and the first volunteers who will serve as Academy trainers.
During the meeting, Mr. Antonis Tsimpoukis, , Cisco's CEO in Greece, Cyprus, Malta, and Portugal, stated, "We are very happy and proud to support this important new initiative from "The Smile of the Child". We are excited by the spontaneous participation of Cisco employees and other certified Greek trainers, who will act as the first volunteer trainers of the Cisco NetAcad Social Digital Academy. "All together, we join forces and offer access and education to all young people".
In his turn, Mr. Costas Giannopoulos, President of the Organization "The Smile of the Child", thanked the people of Cisco Greece and stated, "Cisco is one of the most important sponsors of "Smile", with its most recent practical contribution being important technological infrastructure for our new premises in Athens, where we have the pleasure of having our meeting today. We sincerely thank Mr. Tsimpoukis, as well as the majority of Cisco employees and volunteers, for consistently inspiring us with their eagerness and willingness to collaborate on our work, both spontaneously and voluntarily. We are very proud to be able to launch such a great initiative with Cisco Greece, which will provide young people with the opportunity to take their first steps toward a successful career in the digital world, whether or not they have previously imagined it”.
The Cisco NetAcad Social Digital Academy's goal is to connect young people from vulnerable social groups with the high-quality Cisco NetAcad training program. Thus, participation in the Cisco NetAcad Social Digital Academy imposes no financial burden on the trainees, as is the case with all of the Smile Academy's educational activities, but also, more broadly, with all of the actions and services provided by "The Smile of the Child".
The Cisco NetAcad Social Digital Academy from the Smile Academy of Education & Training Academy will be able to begin operations on March 20, 2022, thanks to the generous support of Cisco Greece.
The Academy will provide digital skills training. Within each cycle, new trainees will be able to register for and attend introductory courses, while older trainees will be able to advance to the next, more specialized courses based on their wishes and interests.
The first course, which will begin in March 2022, will be a pilot program for the young people of the 3.5 thousand families who live or are at risk of living in poverty and are holistically supported by the Organization "The Smile of the Child" through its 14 Support Centers located throughout Greece (learn more about Support Centers here). The first cycle will begin with the participation of 100 new trainees in order to protect the educational program's highly interactive nature and to collect the necessary data in order to evaluate and improve it.
The Cisco NetAcad program is delivered via e-Learning. Cisco's global platform provides access to the material and exams online. Most courses, particularly those at the introductory level, are offered asynchronously, allowing trainees to attend them regardless of how little time they have available.
Furthermore, particularly in the context of the Cisco NetAcad Social Digital Academy from "The Smile of the Child", trainees will have the opportunity to connect in live online meetings at regular intervals with Greek-speaking volunteer trainers who will assist them in approaching the educational program's teaching material and answer any questions.
In a nutshell, "The Smile of the Child"’s Cisco NetAcad Social Academy course begins with Explore introductory courses (Get Connected, Intro to Cybersecurity, NDG Linux Unhatched, and Introduction to IoT) that young people with limited or no pre-existing digital skills can attend, combining asynchronous attendance with live remedial teaching meetings. Following that, the Academy provides interested trainees with the opportunity to attend more specialized courses that are offered live, in the presence of instructors, in order to claim official certifications that are eligible for pursuing successful careers in fields related to new technologies and the digital economy.
For more information:
"The Smile of the Child "
Phone number: 11040
press@hamogelo.gr
