Our University and Cisco will collaborate to develop and implement a new information technology specialization – Programming with Cybersecurity Elements.
New programme will be carried out in accordance with a programme devised by Cisco engineers from Krakow, as well as based on their active participation in conducting classes and their experience in day-to-day work with cutting-edge technologies.
The letter of intent was signed by the Rector of the University of Information Technology and Management in Rzeszów, dr hab. Andrzej Rozmus, prof. UITM, as well as Jacek Przybylski, director of the Cisco Global Services Center in Krakow, and Łukasz Świdziński, director of Software Engineering at Cisco Krakow.
“UITM is an important teaching center that collaborates with many companies from Poland and around the world. We constantly adapt the fields of study to the realities and needs of the modern economy, so that our students and graduates can succeed in leading companies. I am confident that our collaboration with Cisco will enable us to broaden our students’ competencies to new, critical business areas such as cybersecurity” – said Dr. Andrzej Rozmus, Rector of the University of Information Technology and Management in Rzeszów, prof. UITM.
“We are extremely proud that, in cooperation with the UITM academic staff, we will prepare and implement the curriculum in the field of Information Technology under the specialization Programmeming with Cybersecurity Elements. Software development and cybersecurity are strategically important fields with enormous potential and a high, ever-increasing demand for specialists. I am confident that in the coming years, many of them will be educated in Rzeszów and then join teams of programmemers and cybersecurity specialists in the best companies, including Cisco” – said Jacek Przybylski, director of the Cisco Global Services Center in Krakow.
Cisco and UITM have a long history of partnership. In 2000, the first Cisco Networking Academy Regional Academy was established at UITM, which quickly grew to become the second largest Cisco Academy in Europe as a result of dynamic development. In 2003, as the first and only university in Poland (and one of only a dozen in Europe), it was designated as a Cisco Academy Training Center, with responsibility for over 500 Cisco Academies in Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Ukraine, Slovakia, and Czech Republic. In 2018, UITM was recognized as the region’s best Partner in the Cisco Networking Academy programme. Only three universities in Europe have received this prestigious honor. Currently, UITM serves as the Academy Support Center and Instructor Training Center, supporting the development of the Cisco Academy and Programme Instructors in addition to educating students through the use of Cisco Networking Academy courses. Last academic year, nearly 800 students enrolled in NetAcad courses as part of their studies at UITM, one of Poland’s largest Cisco academies.
For the past 25 years, Cisco has run the Networking Academy programme. This global educational project educates specialists who, in addition to technical skills, gain competencies in the development of innovation, assisting businesses in meeting the challenges of digital transformation. The Cisco Networking Academy Programme was launched in Poland in 2000. Over 280,000 people have taken part in it since then.
Cisco Networking Academy is the answer to the problem of the shortage of IT specialists on the market. According to the estimates of the European Commission, the technology industry in Poland lacks even 50,000 employees, of which over 5 thousand only in the area of cybersecurity. Using the untapped potential of Polish youth through close collaboration between universities and businesses will fill this gap and drive technological, economic, and social development, according to Jacek Przybylski, director of Cisco Kraków.
