Cisco recently completed a new Industry Project in partnership with Digital Skills Academy.
 
The largest IT and networking company in the world, Cisco, is the latest major multinational tech company to join Digital Skills Academy’s impressive list of Industry Partners.
 
Digital Skills Academy’s unique International BSc Degree programmes, Professional Diplomas and Online Short Courses provide working professionals with experience of developing real digital solutions to real business challenges. Digital Skills Academy’s Industry Partners programme, already embraced in South Africa by organisations such as MTN South Africa, Standard Bank and MultiChoice, supports skills development across the country by assigning training participants to the development of real-world digital projects for those leading organisations. The projects range from developing websites and mobile apps to launching digital marketing campaigns and using digital solutions to make existing processes far more efficient. 
 
Digital Skills Academy’s unique approach to experiential learning enables graduates to apply their new skills immediately.
 
Cisco provided real-world challenges for participants to develop their digital skills. Participants were provided with access to digital technologies and tools to address the given challenge and were required to share the outcome with Cisco.
 
“Digital opens up a world of opportunity, but it also introduces extensive complexity. To be successful in any industry, we now need a world of problem solvers who think digitally,” said Kathryn Baddeley, Head of CSR and Skills, Cisco UK & Ireland.
 
“We were delighted to work with Digital Skills Academy to help their participants develop expertise through real-world challenges,” she added.
 
“This was another exciting Industry Partnership for Digital Skills Academy and more importantly, it provided programme participants with hands-on experience of working with one of the biggest names in technology and innovation,” said Paul Dunne, Founder and CEO at Digital Skills Academy. “They gained invaluable experience by working in a cross-functional team, combining the functions of coding, design, research, social media integration and big data – and learned how to apply and perform their learning in real-world situations.”
 
Brendon Cilliers, Managing Director at Cubed Software in South Africa, completed the BSc Honours Degree in Digital Technology, Design and Innovation and participated in the Industry Project with Cisco. Commenting on the project Brendon shared that "the experience gained interacting with the Cisco team and Digital Skills Academy’s faculty was invaluable.

Real industry experience coupled with the learning material and support of Digital Skills Academy simply cannot be beaten. Cisco was a fantastic Industry Partner. I am grateful that I was part of such a high profile project for a blue chip company."