As more devices, people and things become connected to the Internet, an unprecedented amount of data will be generated: data which can become a powerful tool for solving some of the greatest challenges facing our planet.
Carlos Dominguez and photojournalist Rick Smolan
I spoke with well-known photojournalist Rick Smolan about how we can turn data into wisdom, and the importance of capturing data in real time. Rick has worked at Time, Life and National Geographic and is the creator of the popular Day in the Life book series. In his most ambitious project to date, he tackled the subject of big data in the Human Face of Big Data project.
I talked with Rick about what his project is discovering, and the first part of our conversation was published in the blog Is there a human face behind big data?
Cisco co-sponsored the project because we believe we’re entering an era of the “Internet of Everything” which will bring data as well as people, processes and things together to make networked connections more relevant and valuable than ever before.
In today’s blog, we continue the conversation by focusing on how big data can improve our communities and the world.
Q: Rick, your project’s premise is that real-time visualization of data streaming in from satellites, billions of sensors, RFID tags, GPS-enabled cameras and smart phones, is beginning to enable us to sense, measure and understand aspects of our existence in ways never possible. Your recently published book The Human Face of Big Data has some wonderful examples on harnessing data to improve the world – do you have a favorite? Read More »
The early days of the Internet were a heady time of reimagining, rethinking, and, in effect, “e-enabling” a staggering range of business processes. Today, we stand on the cusp of an equally momentous paradigm shift driven by an explosion in connectivity—not just among devices, but also encompassing people, process, data, and “things.” This next-generation digital revolution will upend entrenched mind-sets and disrupt existing business strategies on a nearly unprecedented scale, transforming, yet again, the customer experience.
As I shared in Part 1 of my blog, the Cisco Internet Business Solutions Group projects that the Internet of Everything (IoE) economy will generate $14.4 trillion in Value at Stake for private-sector companies globally over the next decade. Nearly 26 percent of this total — $3.7 trillion — will be tied to IoE-driven customer experience advances. Read More »
Welcome to the Cisco Sizzle! Each month, we’re rounding up the best of the best from across our social media channels for your reading pleasure. From the most read blog posts to the top engaging content on Facebook or LinkedIn, catch up on things you might have missed, or on the articles you just want to see again, all in one place.
Let’s take a look back at the top content from April…
Are you prepared for the IoE Economy?
In this blog post, Cisco’s Chief Futurist Dave Evans and Joseph Bradley of Cisco’s Internet Business Solutions Group share two use cases for IoE – connected marketing and connected healthcare – with both a near-term and futuristic lens.
John Chambers Receives Honorary Doctorate
Cisco Chairman and CEO John Chambers received an honorary doctorate from San Jose State University at the honors convocation ceremony in April. His main message to the grads? Never stop learning.
Tomorrow Starts Here
What if the next big thing, isn’t big at all? It’s lots of things, all waking up. Explore how IoE will change the way we work, live, play and learn.
Innovation May Spark Economic Renewal
If we’ve learned anything from the last two decades, it’s that every time we think the Internet has exhausted its transformative potential, something highly disruptive comes along. Cisco CTO Padmasree Warrior talks IoE innovation and the $14.4 trillion value at stake that will spur research, new investments and new jobs.
A Typical Day
Explore how the Internet of Everything is sparking innovation and instigating meaningful actions to happen faster.
Is Your Site Safe From Attack?
Ars Technica editor Dan Godin compiled a list of Apache website compromises that have been impacting thousands of legitimate sites by allowing entrance to remote attackers. Until his research, no one had realized the magnitude of the situation and how widespread the attacks were. Check out the full insights, including potential solutions, in this blog post.
Three Networking Truths
There’s a clear consensus that one size does not fit all when it comes to deploying Software Defined Networking (SDN) solutions to different organizations. Time to dispel common networking misconceptions with three truths about the future of networking as Cisco sees it.
My colleague Norm Jacknis (former CIO of Westchester County, New York) passed along a list of CIO concerns for 2013 that was prepared by Alan Shark of Public Technology Institute, a nonprofit that provides technology guidance to local government. The list for cities and counties included:
I’d want to expand on a few of these items to include another emerging issue for CIOs and other government leaders: getting cities to embrace cloud and networking tools – while moving their urban economies forward.
Well, there’s good news to report on that overarching concern. There are several opportunities to learn more about how cities can embrace technology for economic growth:
An important book is coming soon to your bookstore (virtual and physical): The Metropolitan Revolution: Restoring America From the Ground Up, by Jennifer Bradley and Bruce Katz, two of the best and brightest in Washington, D.C. Their work discusses how economic development power is being restored to metropolitan areas as they focus on driving local innovation, progress, and sustainability.
Additionally, the Brookings-Rockefeller Project on State and Metropolitan Innovation, a five-year collaboration, has unveiled some proactive state and metro-led policies and solutions that help bring public sector leaders all the benefits of the ICT revolution that has reshaped (and revved up) the private sector.
These forums, and others, can provide essential context and information for governments looking to take charge of their economic development by harnessing technology and cloud capabilities – but as an enhancement to local wares (such as raw materials or railroads) that remain the backbone of cities and metropolitan areas. ICT has systematically increased productivity and supported economic growth across both developed and developing countries.
Connecting this railroad to a multisystem cloud network would allow it to transmit data to people and other machines, becoming observable, controllable, automated, and secure – and all achieved remotely, via cloud management.
Comprehensive digital network infrastructure can connect companies and people, increase productivity, and, perhaps most important, may be cheaper and more efficient than conventional, massive infrastructure, such as new roads. The great thing about ICT is that it breeds innovation. An investment in the network doesn’t just improve the public sector – the positive impacts spill over into education, healthcare, security, and so many other realms.
As the world becomes more connected, we are witnessing the emergence of “Big Data.”These are the mountains of data coming out of all these digital interactions, which can then be collected, sifted, mined, and analyzed to provide “raw” data material for new inventions across many industries.
The Internet of Things is already here. As more and more objects become connected to one another, they produce huge amounts of data. This information can be collected and analyzed to allow people to make better, more informed decisions. Sources: Cisco IBSG, 2006–2011; Cisco VNI, June 2011; Technorati; Radicati Group; IDC; The Economist; Apple; InformationWeek.
A transition to a more connected world is difficult. It profoundly affects everyone by challenging the status quo and creating exposure to new complex risks. But incorporating ICT into local governments and communities also offers the possibility of transforming the public sector, changing the role of government, and enabling citizens to be more actively involved in shaping their community. And ultimately, people need to be successful enough to generate taxes, create jobs, and generally contribute to a prosperous economy. I firmly believe that ICT and the cloud network can help accomplish this. What are your thoughts?
And stay tuned to the Cisco Government blog for the next installment of the cloud for local government blog series or click here to register and reserve your copy of the complete compilation of the blog series, including this blog as well as a variety of cloud resources, which will be available in May
It’s May 1st again, which means it’s time for our annual Open Source Conference, a time to celebrate the multitude of free and open source software developers world wide. Even more so than last May 1st, I’m very impressed to see the large turnout and the great feedback after the keynote and four tracks on Big Data, Cloud, Internet of Everything (IoE), and Software Defined Networking (SDN). Our keynote was from Dan Frye, a wonderful friend and partner at IBM. Wonderful to see Doug Cutting from Cloudera, Adrian Cockroft from Netflix, Troy Torman from Rackspace, Chris Wright from Red Hat, Juan Negron from Canonical, Mark Hinkle from Citrix and Vijoy Pandey from IBM and the great discussions that ensued. My thanks to Bhushan Kanekar who helped me put together the SDN track and also to our other tracks leaders, Mark Voelker for Big Data, Kyle Mestery and Brian Mullen for Cloud, and Fabio Maino and Laurent Philonenko for IoE and Collaboration — it’s great to see these guys come of age in open source, enjoying the moment and helping the open community grow. To all those of you who came, contributed and enjoyed this event, we salute you! Open at Cisco is proving it has indeed become a vibrant and fast growing community. Happy May Day!
