The Least Developed Countries (LDC) Initiative was introduced in July, 2000, as a program to provide opportunities for IT training in an effort to bridge the digital divide in the LDCs of the world.

 

Cisco Networking Academies throughout LDCs have contributed to draw profiles of their countries, academies, instructors, and students to enrich international understanding. Regional reports and instructor training offer an up-to-date view of the Progress of this initiative. This has created opportunities for skills development in participating countries, empowering them to accelerate progress, attain sustainable development, and fully integrate into the world economy.

 

The project in the LDCs will provide students in those countries with the same educational opportunity that students taking the class elsewhere in the world receive. In addition, the program will enable businesses and governments in these traditionally disadvantaged economies to compete in the global Internet Economy. Bringing the Internet to these countries and managing the infrastructure with trained, skilled workers is essential in today's increasingly global economy. The Academy program will help build human capacity in the LDCs by training local people to design, build and maintain information and communication technologies. This program is designed to facilitate sustainable development in the LDCs and accelerate their progress and full integration into the world economy.

 

The goal is to use the initial program as the core of a larger development program adapted to the needs of each country. The partners will strive to expand the program within each country by demonstrating the relevance of information and communications technology (ICT) for development.

 

Website: http://www.cisco.com/web/learning/netacad/digital_divide/ldc/Initiative.html