Helping Veterans Return to Civilian Life

On Memorial Day, Washington Technology ran a call-to-action column by Cisco's Doug Dennerline on helping injured veterans retrain as they transition to civilian life. The article sites a couple of troubling statistics, including data from this Wall Street Journal article (subscription required) that indicates an 18 percent unemployment rate for discharged veterans returning from service in Afghanistan and Iraq. 

A few programs underway include work by EON Reality to train disable veterans to use 3D technology and the Computer Technology Industry Association's Creating Futures program. Walter Reed Army Medical Center also has a virtual training program for helping injured veterans develop information technology skills. This program uses WebEx technology to connect veterans with IT trainers nationwide. eWEEK has a good synopsis of the program.

Michael Caton, Collaboration Evangelist, WebEx