Dr. Guy Diedrich is a Senior Vice President and the Global Innovation Officer at Cisco, where he is responsible for its Country Digital Acceleration (CDA) and Networking Academy programs, as well as Learning and Certifications (L&C). In this role, Dr. Diedrich collaborates closely with government and industry leaders around the world to drive mass-scale digitization and skilling initiatives that help increase GDP, create millions of next-generation jobs, and develop sustainable innovation ecosystems around the world. Dr. Diedrich continues to grow and evolve the programs into new markets, building trust with government, industry and academic stakeholders along the way. Dr. Diedrich is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Cisco Foundation, which supports nonprofits and NGOs with grants, technology donations and expertise to help solve global challenges in communities around the world. Prior to his current role at Cisco Systems, Dr. Diedrich was a Vice Chancellor at the Texas A&M University System where he was responsible for research, commercialization, federal government relations, state government relations and strategic initiatives. Before joining Texas A&M, Dr. Diedrich served as President and CEO of GRA Inc., a software development and consulting company that he co-founded and grew from a start-up to a firm employing more than 130 professionals. The company was sold to a publicly-traded technology company. Dr. Diedrich holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Texas A&M University, a Master’s degree from the University of Cambridge (Kings College) and a Ph.D. from Swansea University where he studied the economics of trust in organizations. Dr. Diedrich is a published author in cost accounting and medical psychology, and has worked extensively throughout Europe, the Americas, Asia, and the Middle East for more than two decades.