Plumbers of the Internet

What bomb-sniffing dogs?

Many attendees at the Cisco Networking Academy Conference were so immersed in their activities that they didn't notice the increased security and large crowds milling about. Just down the hall from their conference at the Intercontinental Hotel this summer, President George W. Bush was giving a speech.

The Cisco Networking Academy (CNA) began in 1997 to "teach students networking skills," says Gene Longo, senior manager of U.S. Field Operations, CNA. Cisco was known as the "plumbing" of the Internet, supplying the routers and switches making up its infrastructure.

But the Internet, Cisco and the rest of the tech world have changed dramatically in the last 10 years with no slowdown in sight. This enormous surge will require skilled "plumbers" to maintain and add to this behemoth. Yet, we all hear about the insufficient supply of trained talent available to hire. As one conference attendee told IB, "There will always be a core need for infrastructure. We're not going to outsource cabling to India."

Dan McMillan, who runs the program at Glenville, told us, "CNA has given an opportunity to inner-city students to be those workers of the future and to compete for higher-paying jobs in technology that mostly go unfilled."

Congratulations to Hamid Abdollahian, the director of Cisco Regional Networking Academy at Cuyahoga Community College, and Robert Paponetti, vice president of Tri-C's Workforce and Economic Development Division, for leading their teams to receive one of the CNA annual awards of achievement.

While conference attendees dined on an unremarkable chicken lunch, President Bush was about three miles west, enjoying a Slyman's corned-beef sandwich. But not to worry. The attendees were more excited about their opportunities to make a difference. As Cisco CEO John Chambers has said, "The two great equalizers in life are the Internet and education."