Impact of Cisco Networking Academy Participation on the Growth of Networked Readiness for Developing Nations

We report on a study of growth in countries ’ networked readiness since 2006, and its relationship with their level of adoption and participation in the Cisco Networking Academy program, which teaches foundational networking skills to students at more than 9,000 educational institutions in 165+ countries. Linear growth models were specified to capture the sequential processes of countries ’ Networking Academy involvement from 2004 through 2006 and their ICT capacity growth between 2006 and 2008, as measured by the World Economic Forum’s Network Readiness Index (NRI). Results suggest that growth in Networking Academy student participation was significantly related to subsequent growth in networked readiness for all 117 nations in the data. Relationships between the growth processes differed between developing and developed economies. NRI scores have provided a consistent, annual measure of ICT readiness for over 120 countries since the 2006-2007 Global Information Technology Report, and have been closely linked with other indicators of nations ’ technological and economic development. Cisco Networking Academy involvement could be considered an indicator of a nation’s networking skill capacity, or its propensity to invest in technology education. Findings underscore the importance of technology education as a driving force in nations ’ overall ICT maturation