Worldwide leader in networking, Cisco officially opened two school buildings at village Bichali and Talmari in the Raichur district of Karnataka, India, which embodies Cisco’s view in education, as well as a representation of its commitment to partner the government in its Asare program. The ceremony was held at Bichali village in Raichur district, and was presided by Shri Vishveshwar Hegde Kageri, education minister, Government of Karnataka and Wim Elfrink, chief Globalization officer and executive vice president, Cisco Services.

“I am particularly happy with the partnership with Cisco as it encourages quality education at the secondary and high school level. I realize that technology can definitely help us achieve our vision of providing basic education to every child in this state and enrich the quality of our future citizens’ lives. The two schools will set an ideal example to demonstrate how public-private partnerships like ours can bring about a social change,” said Shri Vishveshwar Hegde Kageri, education minister, Government of Karnataka during the ground breaking ceremony.

Phase I of “Project Samudaya” brought high-quality health care service to remote areas, as well as constructed 500 houses last August. All in all, the project is targeting an end-result of 3570 houses, two schools, and one primary health care center for 5 villages over the course of two years. This is attributed to Cisco’s belief in social, economic, and environmental sustainability as quintessential to enhance the capabilities for all future communities, and that technology can play a vital role in offering essential urban amenities such as education, health care, and public services to rural areas through public-private partnerships.

“Easy and affordable access to public services like education and health care is critical to building a sustainable and strong community in the 21st century. We are encouraged by the Government of Karnataka’s shared vision to rehabilitate and build sustainable communities in the flood-affected areas of Raichur. Project Samudaya gives us an opportunity not only to contribute to rebuilding lives for the flood affected victims, but to also leverage technology to provide access to affordable public services. I am happy that remote healthcare services and education services will help bring about a change in the lives of the villagers and provide an improved quality of life,” said Wim Elfrink, chief globalisation officer and executive vice president, Cisco Services.

Phase II of Project Samudaya aims at building sustainable communities, and bringing remote education to young children in the affected areas through the Cisco Education Enabled Development (CEED) platform. This service is facilitated in English classes for children ages 7 and 8 across four schools in Bichali, Talmari, and Tungabhadra within Raichur. Education is delivered thrice a week, with teachers chosen by Everonn, a company that specialized in technology-enabled learning, in order to properly execute the CEED platform.

“One of the best ways to improve the living standard of a society, a samudaya, is by educating its children. We want to develop the children via quality education and integrate them into a global society. Effective education provided in an affordable manner is a sustainable mean to attain all of these. Project Samudaya has demonstrated this vision by enabling remote education through Cisco Education Enabled Development (CEED) platform for young children in these villages,” said Aravind Sitaraman, executive sponsor of Project Samudaya.

Cisco works with the government to establish sustainable education and health care models through collaborative networked information technology and communications. As a networking leader, Cisco believes in the role of networks in establishing a connection towards an efficient service.