Latvia, the biggest challenge when it comes
to hiring is that they cannot predict, even if a
candidate comes with great talent and knowledge,
how that candidate will solve concrete problems.
What they look for is people who are brave enough
to ask questions, have analytical thinking skills
and who can thrive in a complex world where
things should be made very simple and intuitive.
“Opportunities for telecentres” session
Speakers: Natacha Comar (CISCO, Strategic
partnerships for Corporate Social) and Mladen
Koprivica (School of Electrical Engineering at
University of Belgrade)
Natacha Comar spoke about Cisco’s Networking
Academies around the world, present in 170
countries with 250,000 students. The CISCO
Networking Academies are part of Cisco’s Corporate
Social Responsibility programme and are nonprofit entities. They came into existence to solve
the problem of a fast changing tech environment.
Teachers in the US used to complain that they could
not keep up and deliver the relevant tech knowledge
to their pupils. CISCO started by sending IT engineers
to teach in schools and this activity evolved over
time into an academy, with its own curriculum.
to partner with telecentres and any interested
organisation in the audience could contact her.
A local example was provided by Mladen Koprivica,
who heads the Cisco Networking Academy in
Belgrade. He talked about the Belgrade academy
and how it started. Their priority is to bridge the
They now work with non-profits all over the world digital gap through improving ICT skills of young
and train their staff to deliver the courses. Their people in Serbia. Up to 50 schools will soon join the
success rate has been very high: more than 80% of programme and become Networking academies,
students who take their courses go to find a job or with 100 teachers to become instructors for the IT
pursue a new study programme. For telecentres, Essentials course. Up to 1000 students are expected
relevant courses include the Get Connected to take the training in the first year. He explained
Course (basic), IT essentials (IT technician) and that becoming an academy is not complicated
Internet of things (no prior knowledge required). and telecentres should consider the possibility.
Natacha Comar explained that CISCO is willing
Unite-IT workshops on digital inclusion
After the morning keynotes, TEAC15 participants
broke into five workshops they had registered
for previously. The UNITE-IT workshops are a
continuation of online thematic Working Groups
that are hosted by the UNITE IT network. UNITE
IT (www.unite-it.eu) is an online platform for
professionals in the area of digital inclusion and
empowerment, and is co-funded by the European
Commission. It represents the Telecentre Europe’s
informal and wide network of persons working in
the field of digital inclusion and empowerment.
over Europe and beyond. The Database of good
practice already has 120 entries, with examples of
concrete projects in digital inclusion that can be
searched through and shared. At the conference,
each workshop/working group had a moderator, a
number of invited speakers and policy and social
media reporters. Workshops were mostly oriented
towards gaining collective knowledge and creating
input for policy makers. Below is a summary of the
main discussion points or conclusions in each group.
For more information please contact Telecentre
Europe and we can send you the minutes
The U