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This blog was originally posted on the Huffington Post

This week, heads of state, Nobel Prize winners, nonprofit leaders, and influential CEOs will attend the annual meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) — whose mission is to create and implement innovative solutions to the world’s most pressing challenges.

I am excited about the opportunity to discuss with other global leaders how we can work together to address global challenges. In preparing for the event, I sat down with Cisco Chairman and CEO John Chambers, who is also attending, to talk about the role of technology in driving positive change.

Tae Yoo: This is a busy week for business and political leaders in New York. What is on your mind as you attend this year’s Clinton Global Initiative annual meeting?

John Chambers: Top of mind for me is how we can all come together for a collaborative approach to solving our world’s most pressing issues, such as education, health care, and the global economy. When I think about developing solutions, I think about how we can use technology to make a difference. Let me give you an example. In Jordan we are using Cisco technology to improve health care access in communities with few or no specialists. People who might normally have to travel hours to a distant city to see a cardiologist can now do so virtually, through Cisco technology, at their local hospital or health clinic. Clinicians use technology to share patient reports and diagnostic images and collaborate on cases. As a result, doctors can serve more patients, and more patients can get care.

Continue reading “The Power Of Connections To Change The World”



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Tae Yoo

No Longer with Cisco

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When it comes to furthering your career in technology, the name of the game is certifications. But studying for certifications requires time and energy and both of those are pretty scarce when you’re already working full time. You’ve just gotten out of work where you’ve had to use your body and brain for the last 8+ hours and now you’re wanting to punish yourself again with a grueling session of protocols, and ports. Now add to that, if you’re a family man like me, a demanding personal life. A spouse, and maybe even some kids give the whole situation some added complexity.family

You’re not alone! Most of the professionals in our industry have this problem. It’s easy to become overwhelmed, but remember back to the first time you decided that you wanted to work in this industry. It was fun to constantly learn something new, and solve problems with the new knowledge gained from that education. And with some effort, it can still be fun!  Continue reading “Balancing certification studies with family and work”



Authors

Edward Henry

Senior Network Engineer

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Today, we released the final Cisco IOS Software Security Advisory Bundled Publication of 2013. We committed to these predictable disclosures back in 2008 because your feedback was clear—they allow you to plan ahead and ensure resources are available to analyze, test, and remediate vulnerabilities in your environments. (For more information on the history of this evolution, take a look at my colleague John Stuppi’s post this past March.) If you haven’t had the opportunity to review my earlier posts on preparing for bundled disclosures or leveraging the Cisco IOS Software Checker tool, I’d encourage you to do so now. Hopefully, the guidance will help lessen the impact of evaluating the recently published Cisco Security Advisories. Continue reading “It’s Back – It’s Cisco IOS Software Security Advisory Bundle Time Again”



Authors

Erin Float

Project Manager

Security Research and Operations Group

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Every morning, many of us have the same routine: the alarm goes off, we (reluctantly) get up and maybe hit the gym before showering and getting dressed. We gulp down a cup of coffee or bowl of cereal as we rush out the door to try and beat the traffic to work.

What if there was a better way? What if rush hour wasn’t so rushed? Picture leaving for work in your car one morning while it’s raining. As you begin your normal commute, a car half a mile ahead is involved in a fender bender due to the slick roads. Before the accident can snarl rush hour for everyone in the area, the connected network jumps into action. Safety systems on board the car involved in the accident automatically send alerts about airbag deployment so the network can pinpoint the reason for the delay and make an evaluation of the time it will take to clear the accident based on road assistance availability. Video surveillance allows 911 operators to quickly evaluate the seriousness of the situation – a two-car fender bender versus a multi-car pileup – and dispatch first responders or tow trucks accordingly.

As roadside help is on its way, the intelligent network synchronizes the traffic lights around the congested area to keep you and everyone else moving. Based on your new estimated time of arrival to the office, your calendar automatically updates, changing your first in-person meeting to a conference call via WebEx, instead, that you take from your cell phone in your car.

At the same time that you are rerouted around the accident scene, the transit authority automatically sends notifications through smartphone apps to riders citywide of delayed buses, offering alternate routes. But there is no rushing here – the transit authority talks to the alarm clocks, too, updating them to ring five minutes earlier. What if, on top of all those transit updates, your connected coffee machine updates, too, so that it makes you that cup of Joe as soon as the alarm goes off at the new time? That’s something I’d certainly appreciate!

The Internet of Everything is making these things possible. It is changing every aspect of our lives today – even the little things that we might not think about. Notifying commuters of traffic delays and offering alternate options can improve customer experiences and increase ridership. That can, in turn, reduce the number of cars stuck in traffic, improving the quality of the environment and even people’s health. People, process, data and things work together thanks to a unified framework approach, creating value for individuals and businesses alike.

Explore the interactive image above to learn more about the changes that IoE is making possible. And share your thoughts! Send me a tweet: @JimGrubb.



Authors

Jim Grubb

Chief Technology Evangelist

Cisco Customer Experience Center

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We are extremely proud to announce that Cisco has been recognized by Working Mother magazine’s prestigious 2013 100 Best Companies list.  For five consecutive years we have appeared on this sought-after list,  and this year we’re extremely proud to announce that Ileana Rivera, Senior Director at Cisco and IT Regional leader for Latin America, has been named as Working Mother of the Year in the same publication.

Ileana is responsible for managing all IT related client interactions for the Product Sales and Services Sales organizations and to the overall user community in Latin America.  Her main areas of responsibility include: User Experience support, Service Capability enablement, IT leadership, and Customer Engagements across Latin America. Ileana has more than 13 years of experience in the life science/medical device industry, and has been with Cisco for the last 5 years.

On the topic of being a working mother, Ileana says, “Being a working mother is the art of multitasking! Your mind is always running faster than your actions, you are always Continue reading “Working Mother Magazine Recognizes Cisco and Ileana Rivera”



Authors

Sandy Hoffman

No Longer with Cisco

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Today, Cisco was recognized as one of only four organizations nationwide as a “Green Power Partner of the Year” by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. This annual award recognizes the country’s leading green power users for furthering the voluntary green power market.  EPA presented Cisco with the award at an event held at the 2013 Renewable Energy Markets Conference in Austin, Texas.

Andy Smith and Matt Kulikowski (Cisco) accepting the award from Brian Collison (EPA)
Andy Smith and Matt Kulikowski (Cisco) accepting the award from Blaine Collison (EPA)

Cisco’s use of renewable energy reflects our commitment to sustainability and is a key part of managing our impact on the environment. This is the right thing to do as a corporate citizen; it also helps us optimize the value of our operations and attract and retain best-in-class talent.

We are very proud to win this award in recognition of both our historical support of renewable energy and to continue to include renewable energy as a significant part of our global energy strategy. Today Cisco buys the majority of its renewable energy through wind-generated sources certified by Green-e. In addition, Cisco generates some of its own energy using on-site solar panels, such as 100-kW systems installed at two of our data center locations, and also participates in utility green power programs across Europe and in India.

“Receiving the Green Power Partner of the Year award is a great honor and EPA applauds Cisco’s leadership and impact on the green power market,” said EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy. “Cisco’s commitment to using green power and reducing its climate impacts provides a clear example of an organization thriving on innovation and sustainability.”

Continue reading “Cisco Recognized by EPA as Green Power Partner of the Year”



Authors

Ali Ahmed

Senior Manager

Workplace Resources Global Energy Management and Sustainability

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Cisco innovations have driven the Internet far beyond its original purpose to a network that can handle voice, video, cloud, and mobile services. Now we’re seeing a new Internet on the horizon – the Internet of Everything. In fact by 2017 IP traffic is estimated to grow to 1.4 zettabytes as more programmable devices such as smart phones, tablets, and sensor or machine-driven traffic rapidly come on line. Consider this – just this week there will be more than 26 million new programmable devices added to the Internet or twice the entire population of Mumbai.

This means that managing bandwidth growth isn’t enough anymore. The network must evolve to a multidimensional network, scaling to effectively manage machine-driven events, support ultra, high-definition video applications, and enable new custom-made services. It must also scale up and down with elasticity and be highly programmable, while integrating seamlessly with today’s network, data centers, and applications.

It’s a tall order, but we’re ready today with the announcement of the only such system on the planet. We call it the Network Convergence System—or Continue reading “Cisco Network Convergence System: The Foundation for the New Internet”



Authors

Surya Panditi

Senior Vice President and General Manager

Service Provider Routing Group

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Stephen King’s latest novel – his 50th – is out today. “Doctor Sleep” is a 35-years-later sequel to his hit horror classic The Shining. And after that long of wait, it’s no surprise to hear that it can take the great author weeks, or even years, to write a book’s opening line.

The Sequel

King fans will be thrilled to know that Doctor Sleep finally tells us what happened to Danny Torrance. He’s no longer a kid wandering the halls of The Overlook Hotel in Colorado but a middle aged man in Connecticut, working at a hospice where he’s even more haunted by his ‘special’ psychic powers.

New Picture Continue reading “Author Stephen King on the Killer Opening Line”



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Last week, I shared basic enablement, intelligence, engagement and measurement practices. This week’s presentation focuses on some advanced practices in the areas of intelligence, engagement, advocacy and measurement. By no means is this list complete so please feel free to add your two cents in the Comment box below. The more we share, the more we can influence how companies and even industries are viewing and adopting social media. Collectively, we can shape its evolution. So please, share away!

And without further ado, here’s another chapter from my unwritten book in slide deck format:   Continue reading “A Chapter from My Unwritten Book: Social Media Planning (Part 2)”