5. 5 Pillars Driving Cisco Country Transformation
Corporate
Social
Responsibility
Smart+
Connected
Communities
R&D
Clusters
University
Research
Innovation
Investment
Inorder to establishourselves as Canada’sleadingtechnologycompany, it’s important to invest in the country itself in order to establish a sustainable business operation and producetransformational change in the industries and communitieswe have a presence in. Werank 3rd in total revenue for all Cisco global sales operations, employingapproximately 1,400 employeesnationwide – half of which are committed to R&D.
Here are just a few of our other honors and achievements for this fiscal year. As I said right off the bat, Cisco is a great company because of our great people. It’s all about you! You’re the best and YOU make Cisco the best!Thank you!
Cisco is committed to do our part as a company that works closely with business and government leadership to drive innovation and improve Canada's great status in the world.In other words, Cisco is committed to furthering the innovation created in, and the productivity of, this country.There are five pillars that guide our investments and drive innovation within Canada: Research & Development, Innovation investments, Smart+Connected Communities, Research Chairs at several post-secondary institutions, and Corporate Social Responsibility programs and initiatives.
At Cisco Canada, we believe Canadians are more powerful today than ever when it comes to addressing some of Canada’s most complex social issues thanks to networks; human networks, and technology. Our corporate social responsibility efforts seek to transform organizations and personal lives through technology enablement and employee engagement and volunteerism. In 2012, Cisco invested over $6.7 million in Canadian CSR initiatives through matching gifts, the product grants, cash donations and the Networking Academy.
Connected North is a ground-breaking virtual program that will showcase VROC (Virtual Researchers on Call) and Cisco’s innovations in the field of learning. Engage students and support teachers in Inuit schools and communities by leveraging dynamic content and support services using video collaboration. Provide real-time tutorial services and content tied to K-12 curriculum to capture students interest and imagination in a compelling way. Make the classroom experience more exciting and engaging to help drive more successful student outcomes, and give students the opportunity to virtually go wherever their learning takes them. Students can visit and collaborate with other schools, and with mentors across the North. Teachers can also work with other northern communities and provide mentoring, shared experiences and training that is needed, without travel. Partners for this project will include Inuit schools and communities, Cisco Canada and Virtual Researchers on Call (VROC). VROC is an organization that identifies teachers and content providers across Canada who will share their knowledge and experience real-time with students via video technology. For this program VROC will focus on connecting communities to each other. Working with local communities they will identify students, teachers and others (scientists, environmentalists, communities leaders and elders, etc) whose skills and stories can be shared across great distances through the video experience. The current proposal is that the project be executed in four phases. These will include the creation of content that is appropriate and compelling, teacher support programming, student mentorship and tutoring and community to community learning.
Anticipated Outcomes will be:Greater student and teacher satisfactionBetter student test scoresSignificant increase in studentparticipation and classroom interactionReduced dropout rates4 Areas of Focus1 Curriculum Enhancement Embed content into curriculum to enhance teacher offering and resources available to schools.Science demonstrationsLab experimentsExpert tutorials and concept discussion2 Teacher MentoringPair teachers in the north with a colleague in the southdiscuss issues facing teachersdiscuss best ways of utilizing VROC content explore other ways of captivating classroomassistance with lesson planning as teacher are generalist teachers.professional development3. Classroom ConnectPrograms to pair classroom in north with one or many in the south to encourage cultural exchange. Classroom to classroom interactionSharing of northern practices such as recording of lands program and combining with classroom to classroom interaction4. Greenhouse in the NorthThrough collaboration with scientists, the school will be building out a greenhouse in their school to provide better dietary options for students who come to school hungry. Also an example of northern generated content shared with the south.
The goal of this project is to improve the mental health and well- being of children and youth living in Northern Canada by providing them with access to the mental health expertise available to children living in other regions of the country. However, without sustainable funding, this direct mode of capacity building and service delivery cannot be sustained indefinitely. The primary objective of this three-year project is to enhance capacity of primary care clinicians of children's mental health in Nunavut, Canada. Over a three year pilot phase, Connected North TeleLink program will include: Patient ConsultationsConducted via videoconferencing, patient consultations involve a Psychiatrist or a combination of a Psychiatrist and Psychologist or Social Worker at the near site (SickKids) and a patient, family and other support at the far end (Nunavut). The Psychiatrist conducts a clinical assessment of the patient and provides recommendations that could include a diagnosis, treatment options etc. At the completion of the consultation, a clinical report is written and provided to the patient, caregivers and physician at the far end. Program ConsultationsIn this consultation modality, staff Psychiatrists will continue to meet with various children’s mental health providers in Iqaluit to develop clinical skills, promote knowledge translation and enhance community capacity. Topics of discussion often include mental health challenges, youth in crisis, eating disorders, debriefing and coping strategies, individual youth and their emotions and behaviours, diagnosis, formulation and management. Educational Consultations The topics, timing and modality of presentations are based on a collaborative needs assessment. Presentations include topics such as mood and behavior disorders, substance abuse, trauma, and suicide and self-harm. Anticipated OutcomesIt is anticipated that the evaluation component will demonstrate feasibility, user acceptability and impact on clinicians' practices. A comprehensive knowledge translation and dissemination plan will ensure that research findings are shared with our rural and remote community partners, as well as with the scientific community.
Eco-system focused on shared values helps lead to success in support of community solutions.This approach focuses on leveraging each partners core competencies to address social issues and drive sustainable solutions specifically around addressing school drop out ratesSsi MicroKey Partner in donating Satellite Bandwidth Capacity to the school to enable video experienceFederal Gov funding and support will be required to fund and support this initiative: Aboriginal Affairs,Human Resources and Skills Development Canada,Industry CanadaGovernment Relations plan to present opportunity and secure funding – Summa Canada.Brand Extension – Marketing aligned with awareness plan – Social Media, PR etc. Globe and Cisco to develop national editorial and web program to highlight benefits of supporting First Nations People and celebrating program outcome and impact. Through weekly print profiles and dynamic online site, we will create a community of engagement – highlighting social and economic potential in Canada’s NorthChange the conversation by highlighting how a better understanding of First Nations culture informs our Canadian Identity Engage customers and partners in nationwide Social Media Program to extend conversation and call to action for advancing Connectivity Agenda in Canada’s North.Partners: Aboriginal Affairs,HRSDC, Industry Canada National Chamber of Commerce, Conference Board of Canada, Canadian Business for Social ResponsibilityNGO & FoundationsInuit TapiriitKanatami (ITK) is the national Inuit organization in Canada, representing four Inuit regions – Nunatsiavut (Labrador), Nunavik (northern Quebec), Nunavut, and the Inuvialuit Settlement Region in the Northwest Territories.The Gordon Foundation supports the capacity of northern Indigenous communities to share knowledge, collaborate and design new tools that flow from or contribute to the development of their modern treaties. Their programs focus mainly on Nunavut, Yukon and the Northwest Territories, as well as Northern Quebec (Nunavik) and Northern Labrador (Nunatsiavut).
Engagement Model - 3 Phased ApproachCommunity Introduction and Engagement - first phase lasted over a year. Required understanding of where to prioritize efforts and build relationships with key partners and what ideal scope and framework of program. Focused on ecosystem building and ensuring right partners are in place, then collectively building out program details and structure desired impact. Conference Board was key to help build relationships and broker discussions to assemble key partnersITK was key to building out relationship with school and help navigate obstacles and roadblocksAqsarniit school a partner in the program to use video in the classrooms to help enhance curriculum and teacher supportGovernment of Nunavut – key in providing support and operational approval for program to occur2. Operational Support & Program Execution – Phase 2 involves rigorous program execution and building in operational support to ensure programmatic elements are continued throughout the durationCisco donation in kind – technology, TP endpoints to enable video linkage and program management to drive forward and engage partners where neededSSi Micro – donation of satellite capacity to enable to the connections between schools and between schools and expertsYork – responsible for building out the evaluation components of the program to underpin the impact that this program can have on students attendance, class participation and involvementVROC – organization that will bring in experts into the classroom, support the program and facilitate sessions with between classrooms and provide assistance to the school where necessary3. Program Metrics / EvaluationYork will provide evaluation that we can then work with to promote the need for bandwidth access across Canada’s NorthVROC will monitor the sessions and teacher engagement and will be key to building out enhanced programming for the school based on needs
We have partnered with York University’s Faculty of Education to evaluate the success of the education portion of Connected North. This is an essential piece of the puzzle as it will provide the concrete evidence needed to scale this program and expand it across Canada’s north. A basic scope of their research is:-student questionnaire at the beginning and end of the school year, 30 minutes each time.-several small group student interviews at the beginning and end of the school year that would last 30 minutes each-teacher and principal interviews at beginning, midyear and end that would last 1 hour each-community meeting/townhall toward the end of the year that would last 2 hours.-classroom observations will not be obtrusive or make demands on student or teacher timeWe propose to deliver an interim project report at the end of January 2014 and a final project report in late June 2014. These reports will summarize impacts of the program on students, teachers, the school, and the community as well as the program’s strengths, weaknesses, and areas that need improvement.Informal reports on progress of the project evaluation will be provided on a regular basis throughout the 2013-2014 school year.
Put in a mini-cloud diagram, satellite content creation
Curriculum enhancement has officially begun and classroom sessions with experts for the are underway as of Sep 30th. Each class will have 1 unit (45 minutes) of curriculum enhancement per week, all initially focused on science. Classroom connect teachers have been matched and will begin sessions within a few weeks.
