NEW DELHI: Aiming to help create startups and build successful technology careers, Cisco will train 2,50,000 students in the country over a period of time, a top executive from the global networking giant said.

"We have done a lot of work in education and there are campuses that use our technology. We will skill 250,000 students in the country around networking, security and IoT areas over a period of time," Dinesh Malkani, President, Cisco India & SAARC, said.

Cisco and RV College of Engineering (RVCE) earlier this month announced the launch of a Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Internet of Things (IoT) for digital skills and training in Bengaluru.

"We are extremely focused on India. We have been here for 20 years, we have R&D facilities, global delivery centres and have also invested heavily in the country in regards to Digital India perspective," Malkani said.

Digital India initiatives and schemes by the government like Aadhaar, digital lockers and computerisation of land records, have gained momentum in the country and are playing a major role in the smart cities mission.

By June 2017, some 510 smart city projects with a total investment of Rs 20,669 crore are expected to take off.

"We have been engaged in most of the work that has been going with smart cities and we continue to be engaged whether its a safe city project in Navi Mumbai, or it was work we had done in Lucknow for safe city or Nagpur," Malkani stressed.

"Thus, across the board we have been very focused on the smart cities vertical. We keep refining our solutions and portfolios," the executive added.

The company is currently running 50 projects to be able to help in the areas of cyber security and aims to complete them by the end of this year.

We have the most comprehensive portfolio, we have spent almost $4 billion acquiring companies globally to be able to create best security portfolio, Malkani said.

The company will also establish security trust office with the Indian government and share with them best global practices, so that the government is well prepared to address cyber security challenges.

"We continue to outspace the market. The journey so far has been fantastic and will be exciting the way ahead and we have invested heavily to have full readiness in India," Malkani added.

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