Communications Specialist Intern Richie B. wasn't sure what to expect from a Cisco internship. See how he found a culture where he could succeed as his true self.

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This post was authored by Richie Basile, a communications specialist intern on the Public Affairs Team.

Having no previous experience with tech companies, I really had no idea what an internship would be like at Cisco. I had done my due diligence and read up on the company culture, some key metrics for growth and all the other basic company knowledge I could get my hands on leading up to my June start date. And while I did have expectations and some goals to reach during the summer, I didn’t know what to expect, especially as a low-income college student with a multicultural background — my mom is from Colombia, my dad from Italy — and having lived in Colombia previously. I was a bit worried about fitting in. It turns out, nothing could prepare me for the fast-paced, eight-week experience here.

From day one, Cisco felt like somewhere I could really spread my wings. I’ve been working on the Public Affairs Team, and my fantastic manager and my incredibly supportive mentor have made this experience truly exceptional. They’ve been my guides, helping me navigate Cisco with all its exciting possibilities. One minute I’m collaborating on a project within our team, the next I’m partnering and having talks with folks from completely different departments. It’s like being on a tech-savvy version of “The Amazing Race.” What’s really struck me is how genuinely supportive everyone is, from my immediate team to colleagues across the company. They never hesitate to give you their time, no matter how busy their schedule, or lend an ear when you need it. It’s like having a whole company full of mentors with invaluable guidance.

Being a mile away from the RTP office has been a game-changer, too. Within the first few weeks of my start date, I found myself at a Durham Bulls baseball game with 45 other interns. We had awesome terrace seats, delicious food, free drinks, and the chance to chat with each other, discovering we were all sharing a mix of excitement about our new roles and a touch of nerves about fitting into Cisco’s culture. As the summer has gone on, I have met so many people that I otherwise would not have encountered just by being present and interacting in the office and having lunch at the cafe. There is always something happening on the first floor of Building 7 in RTP, where the interns are, so touching base with other sectors of Cisco there has been incredibly helpful for me in understanding the business and its functions even more.

I have also had the opportunity to join some of Cisco’s Inclusive Communities, which I highly recommend to anyone, especially those just starting out at Cisco or early in career. The Filipino Professional Network, Connected Black Professionals (CBP), and Conexión LatinX Network are the groups that I spent time with during this summer. I attended Cisco Radiate, a conference for Black professionals hosted by CBP, at the RTP campus and Juneteenth events — both were awesome! — and have plans to continue volunteering with other groups, too. These communities have been like finding little families within the larger company where I connected with others who share similar backgrounds and experiences as me and discovered a sense of belonging and reassurance.

You know that feeling of walking into a room and immediately feeling like you belong? That’s been my experience at Cisco. Any doubts I had about my background disappeared because Cisco doesn’t just accept diversity — it celebrates it! It’s been amazing to bring my whole self to work and know my unique perspective is valued. This inclusive culture has made a world of difference and is the reason that success and development is possible. It’s allowed me to ask questions and contribute to projects in ways I might not have felt comfortable doing elsewhere. And it’s given me the confidence to speak up and share my ideas, knowing they’ll be heard and respected.

As I get ready for my last semester of school, wrapping up my degree at North Carolina State University (Go Pack!) this December, majoring in Public Relations, I can’t help but feel a mix of emotions. On one hand, I’m sad that my internship is coming to an end. On the other, I’m incredibly excited about what the future holds, armed with all I’ve learned and experienced here at Cisco.

For anyone out there considering applying for an internship at Cisco, all I can say is do it. It’s been challenging, sure, but in all the best ways. I’ve grown more in these eight weeks than I could have imagined, both professionally and personally. The skills I’ve gained and the connections I’ve made will be invaluable as I navigate the next steps in my career.

So here’s to Cisco — for the opportunities, the laughs, the challenges, and for showing me what it really means to be part of a team. It’s been a great ride, and I wouldn’t change a thing!

Be you, with us. Cultivating an environment in which we all thrive is part of our purpose of powering an inclusive future for all. Learn more.

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"}]]  Communications Specialist Intern Richie B. wasn't sure what to expect from a Cisco internship. See how he found a culture where he could succeed as his true self.  Read More Cisco Blogs 

Cisco's survey of more than 1000 professionals reveals how cybersecurity, IT/OT collaboration, and AI are transforming industrial networks.

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Nothing has been more energizing in my career than listening to customers. Hearing them describe their current challenges, envision new competitive advantages, and measure their ROI are but a few examples. These insights are invaluable not only to strategic partners and market leaders like Cisco but also to industry peers who are learning about the highest value use cases emerging from the rapid modernization of industrial networks.

Needless to say, hearing from 1,000+ industry professionals at once is a rare opportunity, and that is why I am excited to share our 2024 State of Industrial Networking Report with you.

The industrial landscape is undergoing massive transformations as the list of use cases, business outcomes, and competitive advantages driven by operational network investments continues to grow. As a result, operational technology (OT) networks are converging with their enterprise IT counterparts, creating a complex and dynamic environment. To understand the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead, Cisco, in association with Sapio Research, conducted a comprehensive survey gathering insights from over 1,000 industry professionals across 17 countries and in 20 sectors, including manufacturing, utilities and transportation.

The 2024 State of Industrial Networking Report sheds light on the evolving industrial networking landscape, revealing key trends that will shape the future. Let’s look at some of the report’s most significant findings:

OT Security Takes Center Stage

The report highlights a growing concern for OT cybersecurity across all industries. Industrial networks, traditionally air-gapped from the outside world, are now increasingly connected, making them vulnerable to cyberattacks. A backlog of legacy systems and assets, an expanding attack surface, and an overstretched workforce are exacerbating the problem. A significant portion of respondents (89%) cited cybersecurity compliance as very or extremely important. This reflects the global need for robust security solutions specifically designed for the unique needs of industrial environments.

Collaboration is Key: Bridging the IT/OT Divide

With 41% of firms’ reporting IT and OT teams working independently, the report underscores the critical role of improved collaboration between these two teams. Operational efficiency and agility hinge on much better integration between these two traditionally independent departments. The benefits include simplified operations, improvements in cybersecurity defense and remediation, and faster, better-informed decisions. The feedback from the survey was clear. A single vendor solution designed and integrated for both types of networks is a major catalyst for driving IT/OT collaboration.

Preparing for AI in Industrial Networking

48% of the respondents cited Artificial intelligence (AI) as the emerging technology that will have the most significant impact on industrial networking over the next five years. AI is poised to play a transformative role in industrial networking, with the ability to automate tasks, improve network performance, and predict potential issues before they disrupt operations. Participants further stated that AI in industrial networking would be a spending priority in the same time period, which further indicates the urgency to prepare operational networks for the highest value AI use cases.

Beyond the Headlines: What Does it Mean for You?

The findings of the report paint a clear picture of the evolving industrial landscape. Here are some key takeaways for organizations as they plan the transformation of their industrial operations:

Invest at a competitive level: 63% of respondents have ramped up spending on industrial infrastructure over the past year. It’s critical that organizations invest in their operational network as a competitive differentiator.
Establish strong cybersecurity practices: the need for robust cybersecurity to protect critical infrastructure has never been greater. Addressing the growing global threat landscape requires embedding OT security into the network fabric and strong remote access capabilities. For the very latest on OT security, please see “The Forrester Wave™: Operational Technology Security Solutions, Q2 2024”.
Improve IT/OT Collaboration: Increased communication and collaboration between IT and OT is essential for maximum operational efficiency, improved cybersecurity, simplified operations and reduced costs. It also enhances automation and helps address growing skilled labor shortages.
Prepare for AI: AI is coming to automate tasks, improve operational efficiencies, and generate predictive insights. Ensuring your operational network is AI-ready is a high priority for most organizations today.
Find a partner who knows both IT and OT: Industrial organizations need a partner to address the broad range of challenges being faced in both IT and OT today. Further, strategic partners should provide deep industry insights and network blueprints to ensure a strategy that delivers operational simplicity, security and scale.

Building a Secure and Efficient Industrial Future

As organizations globally look to build a secure, efficient, and future-proof industrial networking foundation, we’re hoping this report gives you context and insight from your peers to help your planning and strategies. Cisco is the market leader in both enterprise and industrial networking, and we look forward to working with you to help you navigate today’s complex operational landscape.

Download the Full Report:

For a deeper dive into the findings of Cisco’s 2024 State of Industrial Networking Report, download the full report here.

"}]]  Cisco's survey of more than 1000 professionals reveals how cybersecurity, IT/OT collaboration, and AI are transforming industrial networks.  Read More Cisco Blogs 

Harnessing data is crucial for success in today's data-driven world, and the surge in AI/ML workloads is accelerating the need for data centers that can deliver it with operational simplicity. The… Read more on Cisco Blogs

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Harnessing data is crucial for success in today’s data-driven world, and the surge in AI/ML workloads is accelerating the need for data centers that can deliver it with operational simplicity. While 84% of companies think AI will have a significant impact on their business, just 14% of organizations worldwide say they are fully ready to integrate AI into their business, according to the Cisco AI Readiness Index.

The rapid adoption of large language models (LLMs) trained on huge data sets has introduced production environment management complexities. What’s needed is a data center strategy that embraces agility, elasticity, and cognitive intelligence capabilities for more performance and future sustainability.

Impact of AI on businesses and data centers

While AI continues to drive growth, reshape priorities, and accelerate operations, organizations often grapple with three key challenges:

How do they modernize data center networks to handle evolving needs, particularly AI workloads?
How can they scale infrastructure for AI/ML clusters with a sustainable paradigm?
How can they ensure end-to-end visibility and security of the data center infrastructure?
Figure 1: Key network challenges for AI/ML requirements

While AI visibility and observability are essential for supporting AI/ML applications in production, challenges remain. There’s still no universal agreement on what metrics to monitor or optimal monitoring practices. Furthermore, defining roles for monitoring and the best organizational models for ML deployments remain ongoing discussions for most organizations. With data and data centers everywhere, using IPsec or similar services for security is imperative in distributed data center environments with colocation or edge sites, encrypted connectivity, and traffic between sites and clouds.

AI workloads, whether utilizing inferencing or retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), require distributed and edge data centers with robust infrastructure for processing, securing, and connectivity. For secure communications between multiple sites—whether private or public cloud—enabling encryption is key for GPU-to-GPU, application-to-application, or traditional workload to AI workload interactions. Advances in networking are warranted to meet this need.

Cisco’s AI/ML approach revolutionizes data center networking

At Cisco Live 2024, we announced several advancements in data center networking, particularly for AI/ML applications. This includes a Cisco Nexus One Fabric Experience that simplifies configuration, monitoring, and maintenance for all fabric types through a single control point, Cisco Nexus Dashboard. This solution streamlines management across diverse data center needs with unified policies, reducing complexity and improving security. Additionally, Nexus HyperFabric has expanded the Cisco Nexus portfolio with an easy-to-deploy as-a-service approach to augment our private cloud offering.

Figure 2: Why the time is now for AI/ML in enterprises

Nexus Dashboard consolidates services, creating a more user-friendly experience that streamlines software installation and upgrades while requiring fewer IT resources. It also serves as a comprehensive operations and automation platform for on-premises data center networks, offering valuable features such as network visualizations, faster deployments, switch-level energy management, and AI-powered root cause analysis for swift performance troubleshooting.

As new buildouts that are focused on supporting AI workloads and associated data trust domains continue to accelerate, much of the network focus has justifiably been on the physical infrastructure and the ability to build a non-blocking, low-latency lossless Ethernet. Ethernet’s ubiquity, component reliability, and superior cost economics will continue to lead the way with 800G and a roadmap to 1.6T.

Figure 3: Cisco’s AI/ML approach

By enabling the right congestion management mechanisms, telemetry capabilities, ports speeds, and latency, operators can build out AI-focused clusters. Our customers are already telling us that the discussion is moving quickly towards fitting these clusters into their existing operating model to scale their management paradigm. That’s why it is essential to also innovate around simplifying the operator experience with new AIOps capabilities.

With our Cisco Validated Designs (CVDs), we offer preconfigured solutions optimized for AI/ML workloads to help ensure that the network meets the specific infrastructure requirements of AI/ML clusters, minimizing latency and packet drops for seamless dataflow and more efficient job completion.

Figure 4: Lossless network with Uniform Traffic Distribution

Protect and connect both traditional workloads and new AI workloads in a single data center environment (edge, colocation, public or private cloud) that exceeds customer requirements for reliability, performance, operational simplicity, and sustainability. We are focused on delivering operational simplicity and networking innovations such as seamless local area network (LAN), storage area network (SAN), AI/ML, and Cisco IP Fabric for Media (IPFM) implementations. In turn, you can unlock new use cases and greater value creation.

These state-of-the-art infrastructure and operations capabilities, including our platform vision, Cisco Networking Cloud, will be showcased at the Open Compute Project (OCP) Summit 2024. We look forward to seeing you there and sharing these advancements.

Is your Data Center ready for AI? Watch this webinar

"}]]  Harnessing data is crucial for success in today's data-driven world, and the surge in AI/ML workloads is accelerating the need for data centers that can deliver it with operational simplicity. The… Read more on Cisco Blogs  Read More Cisco Blogs 

Your industrial network directly impacts operational efficiency, security, long-term costs, and the ability to leverage future technologies.

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Over the past 20 years, I’ve enjoyed the journey I’ve taken with industrial customers as partners, helping them modernize and secure their infrastructures. As technology enters the age of AI and customers ready themselves for advanced technology, I feel energized by the opportunity to help them meet the challenges they’re facing as they look to digitize and protect their networks at scale.

Our customers feel an urgency to ensure their networks are securely maintained, and I frequently hear from them that it is their top concern. Cisco is committed to securing customers’ operations, which is why I am pleased to announce that our complete Industrial Ethernet portfolio of DIN rail, rackmount, and IP67-rated switches is now both IEC 62443-4-1 and 4-2 certified.

This is good news for customers, because it means our IE portfolio meets a strict series of internationally recognized standards that specifically address the cybersecurity challenges faced by Industrial Automation and Control Systems (IACS). This is critical for industries like manufacturing, energy, and transportation. Part 4-1 of the IEC 62443 standard outlines specific requirements for the secure development of products that make up an IACS. This means that companies who develop the equipment must demonstrate how they meet stringent secure-by-design requirements. Part 4-2 specifies the security capabilities required for a piece of equipment to be integrated into an industrial network.

As a manufacturer, the industrial network you invest in will shape your ability to compete and succeed in today’s industrial landscape, so if you are connecting your multi-million-dollar production machines without much consideration for networking equipment, you may be disappointed when your network suffers a security breach and lets you down – and you experience a major disruption in production.

The choice of industrial networking equipment is strategic

Driving long-term efficiency and productivity requires that you consider the ongoing impact of the industrial switches, routers, and access points on your operations and how they will communicate between machines and control systems. Your needs will evolve, so selecting scalable, flexible components will give you room for future growth and easy integration into your network. And given how vulnerable industrial operations are becoming to cyberattacks, choosing equipment with robust security features that comply with strict cybersecurity regulations (such as the NIS2 Directive across Europe) is integral to protecting sensitive data and critical infrastructure. But how can you assess whether the equipment you’re deploying is secure enough to safeguard your operations and compliant with regulations?

ISA/IEC 62443 provides a rubric for assessing equipment security

The ISA/IEC 62443 industrial cybersecurity standard defines requirements that industrial components must meet to be considered secure. Because this standard is a community effort driven by the International Society of Automation (ISA) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), it is recognized globally as a blueprint for securing industrial infrastructures.

Cisco and ISA/IEC 62443-4 compliance

At Cisco, our networking products follow the strict Cisco Secure Development Lifecycle (CSDL) process, which enforces a secure-by-design philosophy in all stages from product planning, operating, monitoring, to end-of-life. The CSDL process is certified to comply with ISA/IEC 62443-4-1 requirements, which means that all Cisco products are 4-1 compliant. This underscores our commitment to helping customers build secure, protected industrial networks.

When Cisco Industrial Ethernet switches are ISA/IEC 62443-4-2 certified, it means that their security in-depth design complies with rigorous requirements. They follow Cisco’s iterative process to identify and mitigate risks to make switches as secure as possible. Simply put, our switches meet the strict criteria for inclusion in a secure network.

For network buyers, the choice is secure

With all the choices in the marketplace for industrial networking equipment, buyers may have a difficult time comparing apples to apples. ISA/IEC 62443 is a gold standard metric for comparison. With Cisco’s entire portfolio of industrial switches now certified for both ISA/IEC 62443-4-1 and 4-2, we’re making it easy for you to standardize on a single comprehensive family of access, aggregation, and distribution switches that addresses all your use cases.

Of course, you need to ensure that despite all your precautions you don’t inadvertently allow vulnerabilities in your otherwise secure operations when installing machine builder solutions. Put down ISA/IEC 62443-4 certification requirements in your RFP, and make sure your machine builder partners use Cisco Industrial Ethernet switches in their solutions.

Learn more about Cisco Industrial Ethernet switches, Cisco Industrial Threat Defense, and read why Forrester has named Cisco a leader in OT cybersecurity for 2024, or book a free, zero-commitment one-on-one consultation with a Cisco cybersecurity expert and get a demonstration.

"}]]  Your industrial network directly impacts operational efficiency, security, long-term costs, and the ability to leverage future technologies.  Read More Cisco Blogs 

This World Nature Conservation Day, we invite you to learn more about the impactful work that some of our nonprofit partners are doing in this area.

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A new study in the scientific journal Science shows that environmental conservation is needed to help slow and potentially reverse biodiversity loss, “They found that more than half of the time, conservation actions had a net positive effect but did not necessarily stop biodiversity decline. This work shows that multiple types of conservation actions are usually beneficial and are needed to curb the loss of biodiversity.” 

World Nature Conservation Day offers a moment to reflect on our role in fostering a deeper appreciation for our planet’s biodiversity and supporting the stability of ecosystems. At Cisco, investing in resilient ecosystems is one of the three key priorities of The Plan for Possible, our next-generation environmental sustainability strategy. We invite you to learn more about the impactful work that some of our nonprofit partners are doing in this area. These remarkable organizations remind us that every action counts, and that collaboration is essential to enhance the health of our planet.  

Reconnecting Northland  

Reconnecting Northland, a non-governmental organization (NGO) based in Te Tai Tokerau (Northland, New Zealand), brings communities, agencies, and resources together to support thriving ecosystems and revitalize biodiversity on behalf of nature and future generations. In response to environmental degradation, community taiao (environment) groups are responding by taking action to protect biodiversity and improve ecosystem health by removing pest and weed species, planting native vegetation, installing fencing, wetland restoration and more. These groups often face significant challenges in acquiring the funding, expert advice, skills, administrative support, and other resources necessary to undertake complex restoration projects. Responses are also often disconnected, leaving well-intended agencies and local communities struggling to achieve desired outcomes. 

Reconnecting Northland designed their central program: Te Kete Hononga (The Basket of Connections) to support and grow the capabilities of community and Indigenous groups as they work toward socio-ecological regeneration across the region with benefits for climate, freshwater, and biodiversity. The Cisco Foundation supports Reconnecting Northland’s Te Kete program to build local capacity and agency for communities to create, deliver and measure their own ecological solutions. To do so, the program provides tools (monitoring, project management, and story mapping) and services (business development, leadership training, communications, and research) to communities across the region. Reconnecting Northland found the program led to increased collaboration between diverse community groups, agencies and iwi (Māori tribes); deeper government involvement and funding in community-led initiatives; increased knowledge exchanges; and the growth of more sustainable systems and practices at the community level.  

Pettania Hohaia – a Te Kete Hononga Kairaranga (Community Weaver) for the Waimamaku area shared her powerful personal account: “You supported us as katiaki (guardians) to become resilient and self-sustaining. And you’ve done it by allowing us to lead and make decisions.”

NetHope’s Climate Intersections Grant program 

Wildlife Conservation Society, Colombia. ©

NetHope’s Climate Intersections Grant program – part of NetHope (an NGO) and Cisco’s joint Digital Breakthrough Initiative – aims to advance digital solutions for climate adaptation and resilience. NetHope member and Climate Intersections partner, Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), is harnessing digital innovation to advance global conservation efforts. 

WCS collaborates with Birdlife International and World Wildlife Fund in the Trillion Trees program, dedicated to protecting and restoring forests globally. Central to their efforts is FORMAPP, a sophisticated monitoring system developed by WCS’s Conservation Technology team on behalf of the Trillion Trees partnership to track reforestation projects effectively by improving data management efficiency and making relevant resources more accessible. Comprising a smartphone app, database, and online portal, FORMAPP streamlines data collection, storage, and reporting, utilizing ConSoSci‘s toolkit. 

Thanks to the grant, Trillion Trees upgraded the data integration technology supporting FORMAPP and translated all materials—website, training resources, video tutorials, and forms—into French and Spanish. Field data remains the fundamental building block on which the climate and biodiversity benefits of restoration efforts can be measured.  

Through strategic partnerships and technological innovation, WCS and its partners continue to empower communities and drive meaningful change in conservation efforts worldwide. The integration of digital solutions not only amplifies their impact but also strengthens resilience in the face of climate challenges, demonstrating the transformative potential of collaborative initiatives like the NetHope Climate Intersections Grant Program. 

Farmers for Forests  

Tree detection platform that identifies various parameters including tree height.

A 2023 deforestation report indicated that India has the second highest rate of deforestation after losing 668,400 hectares of forest cover in the last 30 years. A more recent article indicates a significant decline in large farmland trees in India over the past decade. Climate change and deforestation are closely interlinked phenomena that have a bidirectional relationship where changes in one impact the other. Wildfires, disruption of water cycles, extreme weather events and changes to habitat are some of the outcomes of such imbalances. 

The Cisco India Cash Grant program worked with Climatesense Pvt Limited (branded as Farmers for Forests), through an accelerator with Villgro. Farmers for Forests/F4F, is a nonprofit organization that is on a mission to combat the impact of climate change on environmental and human well-being by increasing India’s natural and biodiverse forest and tree cover. By leveraging the immense advances in geospatial and drone technology, they are implementing and monitoring agroforestry projects. With the use of drones, satellite data, and modifying open source artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms the team quantifies carbon sequestered, biodiversity levels, and water savings of the forests and agroforestry plantations which helps to put an accurate price on the ecosystem services that are being provided.   

The accelerator enabled the organization to develop a technology powered  tree detection platform that identifies various parameter of trees such as species, count and tree height that helps in informed digital monitoring, reporting and verification process of carbon projects for the 2500+ acres of land under ecological restoration that they currently manage and more that will be added as they grow.  

Yayasan Konservasi Alam Nusantara  

People installing technology on a fishing boat.

Yayasan Konservasi Alam Nusantara (YKAN) is a nonprofit organization that works in 14 provinces across Indonesia to protect nature and preserve the biodiversity of a vast archipelago comprising 17,500 islands, stretching 5,000 km from east to west. This high marine biodiversity is reflected in Indonesia’s fisheries. Fishing is an important part of the culture of Indonesia’s coastal people, and market surveys show that Indonesia’s fisheries include over 873 species of bony fish and over 137 species of sharks, rays, and chimeras. Unfortunately, many of these fisheries are over-exploited, while others lack any data on their status and life-history—some of the traded fishes are even new to science. With grant support from the Cisco Foundation, YKAN is leveraging the innovative software application called FishFace (Fish Facial Identification Technology) to help the government and fishing communities understand the status of fish stocks in the area and to design solutions to manage these fisheries for the benefit of people and nature.  

Working in close partnership with Geeks Without Frontiers and PT Intelion, YKAN is designing a new approach to overcome this challenge. Initial trials have shown that a FishFace system, which utilizes AI, outperforms trained observers, achieving 99% accuracy. Coupled with software that automatically grabs a picture of a fish as the crew moves it through the field of vision of a digital camera, a FishFace system can revolutionize fisheries research and management in Indonesia with real-time data collection and can provide a more accurate dataset on the status of Indonesia’s fish stocks and insights for local fishery regulations that will preserve nature and the biodiversity of the region. 

Thank you to the organizations that shared their stories with us. As we continue to navigate the challenges of climate change, embracing innovative solutions and fostering global partnerships can help us protect our ecosystems and create a more sustainable future. 

"}]]  This World Nature Conservation Day, we invite you to learn more about the impactful work that some of our nonprofit partners are doing in this area.  Read More Cisco Blogs 

On July 18th, the FCC expanded the E-rate program to better serve schools and libraries. Learn how this impacts your E-rate journey today.

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On July 18th, 2024 the Federal Communications Commission approved a landmark decision by expanding the E-rate program to include off-premises use of Wi-Fi hotspots and wireless Internet services. This means that eligible schools and libraries can now receive support to provide Wi-Fi hotspots and wireless services to students, school staff, and library patrons outside of their premises. This program will have a three-year budget mechanism to ensure fair distribution of Wi-Fi hotspots and services.

What is E-rate

E-Rate is a program established in 1997 that offers discounts to help schools and libraries access affordable telecommunications and internet services. It has evolved over time to prioritize bringing high-speed broadband to educational institutions.

E-rate has become a critical part of advancing technology in our nation’s schools. That’s why our team of Cisco education and E-rate experts have established our Cisco E-rate Knowledge Hub, full of resources to help you on your E-rate journey.

Importance of E-Rate for students and consumers

Many students, teachers, and library users across the nation currently lack equitable access to educational resources due to digital and educational disparities. With the conclusion of the Affordable Connectivity Program, which connected 23 million households to high-speed internet, affected households may now rely on schools or libraries for vital connectivity.

Safety Measures

The program ensures that supported Wi-Fi services are used for educational purposes, not funded through other means, and properly documented for auditing purposes. It also mandates compliance with the Children’s Internet Protection Act, requiring schools and libraries to implement filters to shield minors from harmful online content and educate them on safe Internet practices.

Overall, this decision represents a significant step towards closing the digital divide and addressing the homework gap that many students face today.

Newly updated E-rate resources for your school and library

Our team of Cisco education and E-rate experts have just released our newly updated overviews of E-rate and the Children’s Internet Protection Act. I encourage you to check them out today:

Quick read: Libraries and the Children’s Internet Protection Act
Quick read: K12 Schools and the Children’s Internet Protection Act

"}]]  On July 18th, the FCC expanded the E-rate program to better serve schools and libraries. Learn how this impacts your E-rate journey today.  Read More Cisco Blogs