Internet and networking giant Cisco is investing $15 million to grow its operations and enhance workforce education opportunities in Western Canada. The funding will support new senior jobs in artificial intelligence and builds on Cisco’s presence in Western Canada. The company has doubled its cybersecurity R&D personnel in Vancouver and Calgary since 2016 and added a $7-million cybersecurity office in Calgary. With the new investment, Cisco also is strengthening its Networking Academy partnership with Calgary-based YYC NetLab, a not-for-profit that provides cost-effective access to computer networking education to immigrant and Indigenous women. Cisco will provide YYC NetLab with resources and instructor training to deliver an expanded roster of courses, including cybersecurity. Cisco will also provide NPower Canada, a youth-oriented charity, with resources so instructors can teach career-ready skills to young people. The new investment, announced by Rola Dagher, president of Cisco Canada, and Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, is the first wave of Cisco Canada’s Country Digital Acceleration program, a national initiative through which Cisco will fund and test “smart and connected community” innovations in areas such as the oil and gas sector, healthcare digitization and environmental protection.