November 29, 2000 – San Jose, California – President Ricardo Lagos of Chile and Cisco President and CEO John Chambers signed an agreement of technological cooperation for education between the Government of Chile, Cisco Systems, and the Cisco Learning Institute.

As part of the agreement:

• The Cisco Learning Institute (CLI) will provide the Chilean government with a Web-based e-Learning solution that will support the exchange of educational content over the Internet for the training and professional development of Chilean educators.

• To support this effort, Cisco Learning Institute (CLI) will provide training on how to use the tool set to trainers designated by the Chilean government. In order to enhance the Chilean government’s ability to develop and use e-learning effectively, Cisco will host representatives of the Ministry of Education of Chile at Cisco’s facilities in San Jose. They will meet with Cisco’s Worldwide Education Group and Internet Learning Solutions Group to learn more about e-learning solutions and state-of-the-art Internet technology for education. In follow-up meetings with Cisco, they will analyze ways on how the Internet can improve education and continues to evolve.

This agreement is part of a strong commitment by Cisco to use the Internet and e-Learning solutions to improve education in Chile. Since 1998, the company has supported different initiatives in order to create IT professionals – including a networking post-degree at Universidad de Chile and the Cisco Networking Academy launched in Chile in June, 2000.

The signing of the agreement was part of the Chilean president’s visit to Cisco’s headquarters in Silicon Valley during his official trip to the region.

"The Internet is creating e-learning as one of the most powerful learning tools of the next decade for businesses, schools, and individuals" said Chambers.