The Minister in the Office of the President in charge of ICT (Information Communication Technology), Dr Ignace Gatare, has hailed Cisco Networking for playing a key role in enhancing ICT development in the country.

He made the remarks yesterday while officiating at a two-day Fifth Cisco Networking Annual Conference at Telecom House in Kigali.

"I acknowledge Cisco for the vision and the key role played in facilitating and disseminating access to affordable high quality training in ICT,” he said.

"Besides being a world-class provider of computer networking equipments and other cutting edge technology in IT solutions, Cisco is also well known for its corporate social responsibilities in helping developing country address the issue of human capacity building”.

Gatare added that, the Government of Rwanda has the vision of building a knowledge-based and information-rich economy and society using ICT as an empowering tool.
He commended Cisco Networking Academy in Rwanda for their dynamic expansion throughout various public and private institutions.

"We value and support the excellent partnership which exists between Cisco and Rwanda higher institutions of learning; we hope this will address the issue of skills gap in evolving areas in IT,” he said.

According to Patrick Nyirishema the Head of ICT at the Rwanda Development Board (RDB), the country has fully embraced the use and dissemination of ICT as a key pillar for its social development.

"The long partnership with Cisco academy and a growing number of people trained by the academy proves the importance of ICT in all sectors in the country,” he noted.
Nyirishema added that, the Government, through RDB, has helped to establish a strong academy programme and increased access to ICT training for the rural population through the establishment of networking academies in telecentres.

Hital Muraj, Cisco Networking Academy area Manager for Eastern Africa, stressed that technology is evolving rapidly and the aim of bringing together Cisco Networking Academy representatives together every year is to ensure that they are equipped with the latest ICT training skills.
"The academy offers a long- term solution for providing a highly skilled and well-trained workforce This is critical for accelerating country transformation and strong economic growth,” she explained.
Currently there are twelve Cisco Networking Academies/Telecentres in Rwanda.
The forum brought together 100 participants from Cisco Networking Academies from seven countries from Eastern Africa.
The conference seeks to raise and maintain the quality of ICT instruction by providing in-depth technical refresher training sessions for all instructors and will also provide a platform for networking between instructors, prospective employers for workforce development and Cisco strategic business partners and resellers.
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