As somebody who has spent years working on the intersection of training and know-how, I’ve witnessed numerous transformations in how we put together learners for the workforce. However few developments have been as vital—or as pressing—as the necessity to construct experience in connecting and securing operational know-how (OT).
That’s why I’m excited to share that Cisco Networking Academy is increasing our portfolio to incorporate complete Operational Expertise studying pathways. This isn’t simply one other course addition; it’s a response to a elementary shift in how our world operates.
What’s operational know-how (OT)?
Operational know-how is the invisible infrastructure that powers our lives. Daily, we depend on programs that work silently behind the scenes, controlling visitors lights in our cities, making certain clear water flows from our faucets, and preserving the electrical energy operating in our houses. These programs are powered by Operational Expertise (OT): the specialised {hardware} and software program that monitor and management bodily operations in factories, vitality crops, water remedy amenities, and transportation networks.
In contrast to conventional info know-how (IT), which manages information and communications, OT straight controls the bodily world. Despite the fact that most individuals by no means see OT in motion, it’s important to the secure and environment friendly functioning of contemporary life.
As Trade 4.0 accelerates the shift towards good, automated, and linked manufacturing, the road between IT and OT is blurring. This convergence creates unprecedented alternatives for effectivity and innovation—but additionally introduces advanced challenges that require a brand new era of expert professionals.
OT expertise develop extra vital
Right here’s the truth that retains {industry} leaders awake at evening: based on Cisco’s 2024 State of Industrial Networking Report, 42 p.c of respondents cite the scarcity of expert employees as their primary impediment to progress. Almost two-thirds have elevated their funding in operational know-how, but they wrestle to seek out professionals outfitted with the appropriate expertise.
This expertise hole isn’t simply an inconvenience—it’s a risk to operational effectivity, security, and safety. The true-world influence is evident:
- In December 2015 and once more in December 2016, cyberattacks on Ukraine’s energy grid triggered widespread blackouts, affecting tons of of hundreds of residents. These incidents demonstrated the direct means of cyber attackers to disrupt vital nationwide infrastructure.
- In February 2021, hackers remotely accessed the Oldsmar metropolis water remedy facility’s OT system and tried to extend sodium hydroxide (lye) ranges to harmful concentrations, placing public well being in danger.
- Equally, in 2022, a collection of ransomware assaults by the Conti group compelled Costa Rica to declare a nationwide emergency—the primary nation to take action as a direct results of a cyberattack. The assaults devastated tax assortment, disrupted healthcare providers, and triggered widespread financial losses.
- In June 2022, a cyberattack on Iran’s Khuzestan Metal Firm triggered a serious operational disruption, leading to a fireplace and halting manufacturing. The attackers claimed to have focused industrial management programs, inflicting bodily injury to tools.
As cyber threats more and more goal industrial programs, the necessity for professionals to safeguard these vital operations is extra pressing than ever.
Studying by doing: Our method to OT training
At Cisco Networking Academy, we imagine the easiest way to be taught is by doing. That’s why we’ve developed 4 Industrial and Operational Expertise programs with specialised studying pathways that emphasize observe in simulated real-world environments.
Our Industrial/OT pathways embody:
- Industrial Networking Necessities (35 hours): The muse course that introduces learners to important networking ideas for contemporary industrial infrastructures. This course emphasizes the combination of IT and OT, with a concentrate on the Vitality and Manufacturing verticals.
- Trade-Particular Specializations (15 hours every): Learners can select between the next choices.
- Industrial IoT and Management Programs in Vitality: Discover how Industrial IoT and Management Programs meet trendy vitality community necessities inside Sensible Grid environments.
- Industrial IoT and Management Programs in Manufacturing: Discover how Industrial Management Programs (ICS) and Industrial Web of Issues (IIoT) are reworking manufacturing by way of good applied sciences.
- Industrial Cybersecurity Necessities (25 hours): The capstone course that introduces learners to defending industrial programs from cyber threats. By means of real-world eventualities, learners discover widespread Industrial Management Programs (ICS) vulnerabilities, threats, and mitigation methods, and are launched to {industry} frameworks corresponding to IEC 62443.
Every pathway contains roughly 75 hours of complete coaching, mixing theoretical information with hands-on labs and Cisco Packet Tracer actions that characteristic industrial gadgets.
Designed for real-world influence
What units these programs aside is their sensible, industry-aligned method. We’ve co-designed this curriculum with material consultants from the sphere, together with members of two advisory boards—one for manufacturing and one for energy vitality—composed of {industry} professionals and academia. These boards have performed an energetic function within the design and assessment of the course content material, making certain it meets present and future workforce wants.
Utilizing Cisco Packet Tracer 9.0.0 and better, college students can safely simulate industrial eventualities—from programming by way of Ladder Logic to configuring community redundancy on a wise grid—all from their very own computer systems.
Two Cisco Packet Tracer 9.0.0 topologies: the higher exhibits an influence and vitality distribution community with IT/OT integration; the decrease depicts a chemical mixing manufacturing course of managed by a programmable logic controller (PLC) and industrial gadgets.
The long run wants you
Think about being the knowledgeable who retains a manufacturing unit’s automation operating easily, or the skilled who secures a metropolis’s energy grid in opposition to cyber threats. These aren’t distant prospects—they’re actual roles that organizations are struggling to fill proper now.
Whether or not you’re early in your profession and exploring alternatives within the industrial sector, otherwise you’re an expert trying to reskill from one other subject, Cisco Networking Academy’s new Industrial and OT programs present the foundational information and hands-on observe employers are actively searching for.
Discover a Cisco Networking Academy close to you to get began.
Deliver operational know-how training to your college students
Instructors, your college students may be the subsequent era of expert professionals, making certain the way forward for {industry} is linked, safe, and sustainable. However they want educators such as you to information them.
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