CISCO Systems, a leading supplier of networking equipment and network management for the Internet has chosen South Africa as a launch pad for what is known as the Global Talent Acceleration Programme (GTAP) in emerging Africa.

This training, which was officially launched on March 13, 2008 in Johannesburg, is an investment initiative designed to support emerging African governments and organizations in addressing the information technology skills.

According to Phil Wolfenden, Senior Director of advanced services in emerging markets, finding the right talent to support the tremendous growth in the entire African region experiencing emergence in information technology (IT) is a critical challenge for governments and organizations.

“Demand for technical talent has undoubtedly exceeded supply in emerging Africa”, he said, noting that GTAP will help Cisco to provide customers with long term solutions in the form of highly skilled and well trained local work force.

The focus of this programme will be on South Africa, where Cisco aims to employ and train 16 South African-based recruits at the professional and associate levels. These students will go through a rigorous programme that combines theory, industry exposure and hands-on experience.

The GTAP facility will expand in three significant directions. First a professional track will be added that will draw in students with, typically three to five years’ experience.

Next, Cisco partners will have the opportunity to put their staff through GTAP. Finally, students will be recruited to the Johannesburg facility from a range of countries in emerging Africa, with the objective of positioning South Africa as a technology leader on the continent “GTAP”, said john Livingston, director of business development Cisco, “is a core part of Cisco strategy to be a truly global company through the creation of new business models and the acceleration of local talent networks”.

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