Emaar, The Economic City (Emaar.E.C), the Tadawul-listed company developing King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC), has joined hands with networking leader Cisco for a pioneering educational initiative that will empower Saudi youth to be active participants in the growth of KAEC and Saudi Arabia.

The initiative is steered by Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (Sagia), the prime facilitator of KAEC.
Cisco will serve as Emaar.E.C’s training partner for the development and implementation of the educational initiative. Some 5,050 students will be trained over the next five years in coordination with Emaar.E.C.
Prince Khalid Al Faisal, Governor of Makkah Al-Mokarramah region, and Amr Bin Abdullah Al-Dabbagh, Governor, Sagia, watched as Fahd Al-Rasheed, board member and CEO, Emaar.E.C; and Dr Badr Al Badr, managing director, Cisco Saudi Arabia, inked the contract.
The training initiative will focus on three key areas including leadership enablement through the Cisco NetVersity programme, Advanced Technical Training through Cisco Networking Academy and Mass Technical Training through IT essentials training.
The Cisco NetVersity programme, aimed at training 50 students over five years, has developed unique curriculums that include a combination of technical and soft skills (such as communication, teamwork, presentation and project management).
The Cisco Networking Academy (CCNA) initiative is to train 1,000 students over five years on how to install and configure Cisco switches and routers in local and wide-area networks using various protocols, how to provide Level 1 troubleshooting service, and how to improve network performance and security. The CCNA curriculum also provides training in the proper care, maintenance, and use of networking software tools and equipment.  The Mass Technical Training through IT essentials focuses on driving basic technology skills, work ethics and English fluency, and will train 4,000 students over five years.