This is How I’m Giving Back to Ireland (and You Can Be Part of It)

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Why I Built This

Let me tell you what keeps me up at night and what keeps me going.

Too many brilliant, capable people in Ireland (and elsewhere) are being left behind—not because they lack talent or drive, but because they lack access to the right knowledge, mentorship, and guidance to break into the world of network engineering.

At the same time, companies are struggling to find engineers who not only understand protocols but can design, operate, and evolve real-world networks. The talent gap is growing. So is the complexity of our infrastructure. Yet the paths into this profession remain fragmented, expensive, overly academic, or simply out of reach.

So I decided to build something different.
Not a business. Not a school.
But a personal contribution to Ireland, to its people, and to the craft I've spent my life mastering.

Introducing Next Hop Ireland

👉 https://www.nexthopireland.com

Next Hop Ireland is a year-long, community-driven program designed to take aspiring engineers from zero to confident contributors in the world of computer networks.

It’s built on three core ideas:

1. Access should never be a barrier to excellence

2. Community creates momentum and accountability

3. Learning must be grounded in reality, not just theory

This is neither a college degree nor an accredited course.
This is a calling to learn, to grow, and to build a career from the ground up.

Who This Is For

• The young adult, unsure about university but hungry to learn real skills

• The career switcher looking to join the tech industry through an infrastructure lens

• The hobbyist, the tinkerer, the person who asks, “What’s behind this connection?”

What They’ll Learn

✅ Weekly 4-hour live classes (online)
✅ A curriculum that grows from fundamentals to advanced skills
✅ Monthly in-person meetups in Ireland
✅ Real-world labs, design cases, and career prep
✅ A supportive peer group and industry guidance

Through weekly live classes, hands-on labs, and a strong support network, participants will build up from:

• Network fundamentals from the ground up

• Routing and switching architectures

• Routing protocols and technologies like OSPF, BGP, MPLS, Segment Routing, and others

• Enterprise, Metro, and Data Center technologies

• Network automation

• Real-world designs from enterprise, ISP, and cloud networks

• And above all: how to think like a network engineer

View the full curriculum:
👉 nexthopireland.com/curriculum.html

The Real-World Problems This Solves

• For individuals: It creates pathways to well-paying, meaningful jobs in a future-proof industry.

• For companies: It grows local, high-quality talent in a space often dominated by overseas hiring.

• For communities: It lifts people through education and gives them the power to build and maintain the infrastructure their lives increasingly depend on.

And for Ireland itself?
It strengthens a digital backbone that’s already a key pillar of our economic identity, from cloud data centers to broadband infrastructure to public services.

Can You Support This Mission?

If you're part of a company or organization that believes in creating opportunity, I’d love your support.

Sponsorships will go toward labs, scholarships, and community events that ensure no learner is left out.

You can read more here:
👉 nexthopireland.com/sponsors.html

And if you want to support me personally, the best way is through my independent newsletter, our beloved The Routing Intent!

Applications Now Open

Our first cohort begins in March 2026, and applications are now open.
If you're based in Ireland and ready to invest in yourself—no matter your background—I invite you to join me.

Apply here:
👉 https://www.nexthopireland.com/apply.html

Let's promote belonging, craft, community, and a future worth building.

Let’s take that next hop together.

With appreciation,
Leonardo Furtado