CISCO announced yesterday that the company will deepen its commitment to supporting Arab youth by designating its globalisation centre to support Silatech, an initiative of HH Sheikha Mozah Nasser al-Misnad, in developing a region-wide technology platform. Cisco chairman and chief executive officer John Chambers will oversee Cisco’s commitment on Silatech's board of trustees. The technology platform will include innovative applications that will help enable instant interaction and on-demand collaboration amongst businesses and individuals alike, including face-to-face video meetings and blogging. Cisco’s chief globalisation officer and executive vice president Wim Elfrink said that Cisco will help Silatech scale promising youth-led enterprise and regional collaboration through the use of cutting-edge informational communications technologies (ICT) to stimulate scalable economic and social development projects across the region. “Through our globalisation centre, we will be building upon our knowledge and expertise in workforce development programmes to create a favourable environment for ICT education and allow individuals to interact with their prospective employees in a fast and highly secure manner,” said Elfrink, who is to lead the strategic collaboration with Silatech. Silatech, with broad support from other leaders and organisations both regionally and internationally, would address the critical and growing need to create new jobs and opportunities for young people globally, starting in the Arab world - the region with the highest rates of youth unemployment and under-employment. Silatech’s vision is aligned with Cisco’s intent to use the network as the platform to drive scalable, sustainable business models that can help lift the social and economic status of youth. Silatech executive committee chairman and board member Rick Little said: “Cisco’s strategic collaboration with Silatech introduces the power of Web 2.0 to build and support sustainable entrepreneurship and job creation opportunities. We aim to deploy a mix of traditional and social networking tools to connect today's youth with other entrepreneurs and established businesses across the region.” Another key part of this collaboration is the creation of youth targeted entrepreneur centres whereby Silatech and Cisco will collaborate with local partners to roll out the Entrepreneur Institute in five Arab countries within the next 12 months. The Institute will help facilitate the development of entrepreneurial businesses by offering three training tracks designed for entrepreneurs seeking to start their own business, grow their business or deploy ICT to help accelerate their business success. Gulf Times

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