Grid4EU is a four-year, multi-national project that comprises six smart grid projects by utilities in France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Sweden, and the Czech Republic. Together these projects cover more than half of Europe’s electricity supply. With an ecosystem of 27-partners, the project is focusing on smart grid solutions for renewable energy integration, grid automation and energy efficiency.  This will effectively lay the groundwork for future electrical grids, while empowering consumers as marketplace participants.  Ultimately, improving consumption management and cost-effectively achieving greater network reliability, flexibility, and resiliency.

According to Marco Cotti, Head of Smart Grids Development at Enel,

“The GRID4EU project represents the first important step in the implementation of the European Electricity Grid Initiative roadmap and we are convinced that it will become a reference for the development of Smart Grids in Europe and beyond”

Cisco is supporting two major project demos in Italy and the Czech Republic. Read More »

Tags: cez, connected grid, customer, enel, Energy, Europe, Smart Grid, utilities

CIOs around the world are at the center of technology trends such as cloud, social media, consumerization of IT, and mobility. This is the third blog in a four-part series (Read Part I) (Read Part II) exploring and sharing how CIOs around the world are responding to these trends and creating new ways to innovate, grow, and deliver superior customer experience.

Back in 2006, Gartner Research predicted that no company would be able to build or sustain a competitive advantage over the next few years unless it capitalized on the combined power of individualized workers and social dynamics. The “Future Worker of 2015,” Gartner said, would collaborate more, work alone less in order to be successful. Read More »

Tags: Borderless Networks, Carrie Krinock, CIO, Cisco, cloud, collaboration, customer experience, Europe, Executive ViewPoints, innovation, Manufacturing, new business models, new revenue streams, operational excellence, Robbert Kuppens, SaaS, UK, WebEX

CIOs around the world are at the center of technology trends such as cloud, social media, consumerization of IT, and mobility. This is the second blog in a four-part series (Read Part I) exploring and sharing how CIOs around the world are responding to these trends and creating new ways to innovate, grow, and deliver superior customer experience.

Many of us are used to having a pretty formal relationship with our bank – after all, it’s about our money, isn’t it? It’s hard to get more serious than that.

However, times are changing. The Intuit 2020 Report: The Future of Financial Services identifies four areas of rapid transformation in today’s financial services industry: Read More »

Tags: allianz, any device, Borderless Networks, Bring your Own Device (BYOD), byod, Carrie Krinock, CIO, Cisco, cloud, customer experience, Europe, Executive ViewPoints, Financial Services, Germany, innovation, operational excellence, social media

CIOs around the world are at the center of technology trends such as cloud, social media, consumerization of IT, and mobility. This is the first blog in a four-part series exploring and sharing how CIOs around the world are responding to these trends and creating new ways to innovate, grow, and deliver superior customer experience.

The manufacturing industry has been hit harder than most as a result of the global recession. As the market recovers, however, manufacturers are finding that IT has also changed. Consumers are more demanding, and expect new products faster. Read More »

Tags: akzo nobel, AkzoNobel, any device, Borderless Networks, Bring your Own Device (BYOD), byod, Carrie Krinock, CIO, Cisco, cloud, customer experience, data center, Europe, Executive ViewPoints, innovation, Manufacturing, netherlands, operational excellenc, supply chain, supply chain excellence, virtualization

Employees take Cisco’s corporate culture of environmental and social responsibility seriously. Some so seriously that they don protective gear and venture to the rooftops of Cisco office buildings in France and the United Kingdom to cultivate a greener world.

These Cisco employees are not modern day superheroes, but rookie beekeepers, intent on cultivating colonies of endangered bees to pollinate wild plants and food crops.

The European beekeeping project illustrates how people can use human and technology networks to multiply the positive impact of something they are passionate about. Read More »

Tags: Borderless Networks, collaboration, CSR, employees, england, Europe, France, shared value, United Nations