Cisco Product Innovation Lab

The Entrepreneurial Nation, an initiative by The UAE Ministry of Economy, is proud to announce a partnership with Cisco, the worldwide leader in technology that powers the Internet.

Cisco is the worldwide leader in technology that powers the Internet. Cisco inspires new possibilities by re-imagining applications, securing data, transforming infrastructure, and empowering teams for a global and inclusive future. As part of its Country Digital Acceleration program, Cisco is aligning with the UAE’s national agenda to transition towards a sustainable, digital economy. The Entrepreneurial Nation and Cisco created special programs for enterprises to boost their business management and digitalization practices. The programs will be hosted in Cisco Digital Transformation Center (DTC) in Dubai.

Cisco Product Innovation Lab focuses on advancing development capabilities within the SMEs in-house team by leveraging programmability of Cisco platforms.

The program will guide up to 15 selected enterprises in new product identification, development, design and bringing new product ideas to life by employing a unique combination of interactive learning, experimentation, mentorship, and tools. The program combines the strengths of Lean methodology, with elements of Prototype and Horizon thinking, to create critical mind shifts and a road map that guides entrepreneurs down a quick and risk adverse path to global Startup success.

The program will consist of 3 stages:

Stage 1 - Identification of New Product (all participants)

Identification of product gaps and needs while taking self-paced courses on basics for understanding development concepts and fundamental exercises relating to network and security automation with Cisco technology.

Stage 2 – Product Design (all participants)

Development of high-level design while participating in associate-level learning and hands-on sandboxes, Cisco technology and platforms.

Stage 3 – Product Development (selected participants)

Selection of best product design ideas and assisting them with further development.

Program duration: 3 Months

Application Deadline: May 31st, 2023

Participants will Receive

  • Self-paced and guided training

  • Access to subject matter experts

  • Access to Cisco development platforms

  • Guided workshops

  • Access to physical workspace at the Cisco Digital Transformation Center (DTC)

  • Access to lab and sandbox environment

  • Opportunity to network

Eligibility Criteria

  • Registered company in UAE

  • 10 to 250 employees

  • Technology provider or software solution company

  • Presence of an in-house software development team

Programs Details

Learning Materials for Stage 1

Module

Indicative Timeline

Description of outcomes

Introduction to Interactive Learning Platform

1 Hour

Learn how the interactive learning platform works, as well as tips and tricks for using it effectively and troubleshooting.

  • The built-in developer environment

  • The file browser and editor, the Terminal

  • Managing the environment

Introduction to Network & Security Automation

1 Hour

Development concepts and fundamental exercises related to network and security automation with Cisco technology.

  • Why Code?

  • What Changed?

  • Your Future Job Role

Introduction to Git

1 Hour

Version control system, how Gitworks to track changes, and basic terminology and commands.

  • Introduction to Version Control Systems

  • Git tracks changes, terminology. Commands

  • Hands-on with Git and GitHub

Introduction to Python

1 Hour

Python basics and necessary skills

  • Introduction to Python, Interpreter, types, loops, tools

  • Introduction to data formats

  • Parsing JSON with Python

REST API’s

1 Hour

REST API’s

  • Introduction to REST APIs

  • Hands On: Use Postman to interact with REST APIs

  • Generate Python Code with Postman

Learning Materials for Stage 2

Module

Indicative Timeline

Description of outcomes

Course introduction

2 Hours

Course information and instructions on how to use the built-in developer environment for the hands-on labs within the course

Software development and design

9 hours



Choosing modern software development techniques to create all-important business or user outcome.

Understanding and using APIs

4 hours

Cisco product lines with different interfaces for multiple use cases, whether collecting data, calling services, or listening to events.

Network fundamentals

9 hours

Network that all application traffic goes through and on and to know about the application development

Application deployment and security

10 hours

Application deployment options, examples of deployment in test and production environments, security and vulnerability.

Infrastructure and automation

9 hours

Special tools for network including Puppet, Ansible, and Chef,PyATS and VIRL

Cisco platforms and development

16 hours

Cisco's developer and automation categories; collaboration, compute including data centers, networking including data models, and security

Cisco platforms (optional self-paced course for selected participants)

Module

Indicative Timeline

Description of outcomes

Enterprise Networking

4 hours

Build apps with Cisco DNA Center Platform Solutions.

Data Center Networking

6 hours

Explore Application Centric Infrastructure (ACI) programmability options and explore data center APIs.

Cloud & Containers

3 hours

Learn how containers and microservices can simplify your Cisco cloud deployments

Meraki

3 hours

Code on Meraki platforms using Python and explore various APIs available.

IOT & Edge Computing

6 hours

Learn how to manage and deploy IoT devices and edge applications.

Webex

7 hours

Create your own integrations with Cisco Webex Collaboration APIs.

Contact Center

2 hours

Customize your contact center with available Finesse gadgets and APIs.


Program Milestones

Dates

Step

February – April 2023

Application and onboarding

  • submitting applications

  • selection of participants

  • onboarding participants on the platform

May 2023

Stage 1 - Identification of new product development gaps

  • completion of Developer Fundamentals for DevNet Express

  • meet up with the experts

  • ideation workshops to identify gaps and new product ideas

June 2023

Stage 2 - New Product design

  • completion of DevNet Associate Fundamentals.

  • guided high level design development workshops

  • high level design submission

July 2023

Stage 3 – Product development.

  • 3-5 ideas will be nominated for further development

  • guided development of the low level design and further support depending on the maturity of the idea