Today Cisco held its second-annual Academy Day at the Cisco Live! conference in Milan, Italy. The event is sponsored by the Cisco Networking Academy program, which trains 1 million people worldwide each year in computer networking technology. The theme of Academy Day is Internet of Everything for Social Innovation, and more than 1000 college-age students from Italy and elsewhere participated in activities like:

• Robotics demonstration
• Internet of Everything panel discussion
• Information about the future of technology careers and how the Cisco Networking Academy can prepare them
• Presentation from start-ups working to solve social issues (including a team of Cisco Networking Academy students from France who designed a networked walking stick for visually impaired people)

During Academy Day at Cisco Live Milan, founders of the start-up Handisco demonstrated their networked walking stick, which helps visually impaired people navigate cities.

Also, for 44 hours, teams of students in Italy and Singapore will participate in a Hackathon for Social Innovation produced by Cisco Networking Academy. Their challenge is to create an application that uses collaboration technologies and networked connections to revolutionize the delivery of education.

The Hack-a-thon concludes on Wednesday, January 28 at 4 p.m. Milan time.Visit the Cisco Corporate Social Responsibility blog later this week to find out what happened!