Those of you who have visited Hangzhou will know that it is one of the most beautiful cities in China with the stunning West Lake as one the city’s key attractions. Hangzhou plays a key role in Cisco’s innovation and research and development strategy for China, with one of our main R&D campuses based in the city. Hangzhou is also home to Insigma, a global strategic IT services and solution provider that works with leading companies around the world. Insigma collaborates closely with Zhejiang University, one of China’s oldest and most prestigious universities, based in Hangzhou. The city was therefore the perfect setting today to announce a strategic collaboration with Insigma which will deepen Cisco’s expertise in Smart+Connected Communities (S+CC) in China.

Hangzou West Lake

As part of the collaboration, Cisco and Insigma have made a strategic investment in City Cloud International Co., Ltd., a company that will help scale the devopment of  S+CC in China using intelligent networks to deliver new, platform-based cloud services across the country. Cisco has a strong collaboration with Insigma on S+CC; the company announced its smart city strategy at the Cisco Pavilion at the World Expo 2010 in Shanghai.

China’s urban population will expand to the 1 billion mark by 2030 with 350 million added to the urban population by 2025. The country will have 221 cities with a population of more than a million. I’m Dutch, and to put that in perspective, the whole of Europe has only 35 such cities today. 5 billion square meters of road will be paved. 5 million buildings will be built of which 50,000 could be skyscrapers – the equivalent of constructing up to ten New York cities. This unprecedented pace of urbanization in China is accompanied by rapid growth in the adoption of technology: video-on-demand traffic; the Internet of Things and data passing through the cloud. Cisco estimates that by 2016, China will be the second highest IP-traffic generating country in the world.

At Cisco, we truly believe technology will play a key enablement role in the achievement of China’s ambitious goals, as outlined in the 12th Five Year Plan. Sustainable urbanization, access to healthcare for everyone at an affordable cost and educational scaling can only be achieved via technology and new business models such as cloud computing. The future of competition will be between cities. Enabling overall sustainability – economic, social and environmental – using technology, will be integral for cities to develop and prosper.

Madam Jiang Yi, CEO of Insigma Technology Company Ltd. and Owen Chan of Cisco conclude the proceedings

City Cloud International Co., Ltd. will help  build Smart+Connected Communities thought leadership, platform and solutions using intelligent networks to deliver public and private services in cities across China. There has been great collaboration between the leadership teams of Insigma, which is backed up by the Zhejiang University, and Cisco led by our Greater China Chairman and CEO, Owen Chan. We are very excited about the innovation we can create for the city of Hangzhou, the province of Zhejiang and the whole of China.

At Cisco, we believe that we are creating a new industry for this next generation of smart+connected communities that will depend upon five key areas: visionary leadership, global open standards, smart regulation, public private partnerships and a new ecosystem. Our collaboration with Insigma through City Cloud International Co., Ltd is a great example of these five key areas coming together.

Tags: China, Cisco, Smart + Connected Communities, Smart Cities

What will the ideal city of the future look like?

Urban policymakers around the world are striving to answer this question, while positioning their citizens to compete and thrive in a time of accelerated innovation and change. Many are seeking the best possible convergence of technology and infrastructure within the urban environment. But the overall goal is to enhance the success, livability, and overall appeal of their cities. Read More »

Tags: Big Data, Cisco, Eco-Vallée, France, IBSG, Innovative City Convention, Smart Cities, Smart work

Cisco’s Smart+Connected Communities efforts around the world have seen both the creation of new cities and the revitalization of existing ones. Although we’re no strangers to the transformation process, it is still eye-opening to see one of the oldest areas of France well on its way to becoming a model city of the future.

Nice by Night

Last month, Cisco and city officials of Nice, France convened at the Innovative City Convention to announce a strategic collaboration in future development. In recent times, policy makers and industry leaders have increasingly been tasked with city improvement goals that require the careful integration of citizen needs, city-wide operations and prevailing infrastructures. Through the signing of an MoU, both parties have agreed to embrace a more holistic view in the next stage of planning and development for Nice. As a key technology partner, Cisco plays an important role in taking advantage of our core networking competencies to transform Nice from a physical community into a connected community. With the help of relevant technologies, we hope to create the level of innovation and socio-economic development needed to bolster the city’s sustainability, growth and global competitiveness.

As the fifth most heavily populated city in France, Nice sits on 28 square miles of land and houses around 350,000 citizens. Projects that are being put into place will largely focus on improving quality of life, creating jobs, sustaining the appeal of local industries and maintaining overall social welfare. The implementation of networked technologies will aim to provide the following:

• A network of smart sensors connected to intelligent communication systems that are capable of capturing and analyzing relevant data on city operations
• Mechanisms in place that will alert citizens on air/water quality and flash flood warnings
• Technologies that provide drivers with pertinent information on traffic patterns and available parking, with the aim of improving traffic flow
• Consumer mobile devices that help facilitate payment for services and customize on-demand data for nearby recreational activities and entertainment
• Technologies that nurture and promote interaction amongst students, teachers, neighbors, researchers, companies and governments
• Improved healthcare technology that provides efficient care at a distance, diagnostics and treatments to improve citizen health

In taking a more holistic approach to planning and development efforts, the city of Nice has taken on the economic and social welfare of its citizens as a priority. The development of new services and industries will effectively help create new jobs, while innovative technologies will support better education, healthcare and workplace services. As a testing ground for many of these solutions, we’re optimistic that Nice will one day serve as a model for what a smart and connected community could achieve.

Tags: France, nice, S+CC, Smart Cities

A “Smart Cities” special event was organized in San Diego on June 27 by the Daniel Obodovski, a Director at Qualcomm. Daniel serves as the Co-Chair of a Machine-to-Machine (M2M) Special Interest Group (SIG) of CommNexus San Diego, a non-profit technology industry association that works to accelerate the formation, growth, and success of the technology industry in the San Diego region.

The M2M SIG is focused on wirelessly connected devices, which fall outside of the mobile phone and tablet space, commonly referred to as “the Internet of Things” (IoT) -- the wireless connectivity between the virtual and physical world around us. The M2M SIG addresses a spectrum of issues of the machine-to-machine area including: time-to-market challenges, new business models, market opportunities, technology constraints and solutions. This is a new SIG within CommNexus San Diego, and it aims to connect the best carriers of expertise with developers, entrepreneurs and investors. Forums such as this “Smart Cities” special event are one example of how they make these connections. Read More »

Tags: Big Data, government, IBSG, innovation, internet of things, IPv6, Machine to Machine, Metropolitan, Open data, regulation, Smart Cities, Urban technology

Smarter and more connected communities – that’s not just a pretty vision, far off into the future. They are being built now, often on the basis of a renewed and intelligent city infrastructure. These communities have numerous advantages over other cities. Some of the most successful ones are approaching their development in ways that change how they deliver services to residents, how those residents work, how traffic flows are managed, how public transportation operates, and how real estate resources are best utilized.

We want those attending Meeting of the Minds 2012 in San Francisco in October as well as those watching via webcast, to build a world where everything is connected, intelligent, and green: from office buildings and appliances to hospitals and schools. Citizens will play a central role in that new world, working together with business and government and achieving unprecedented levels of collaboration, productivity, and economic growth. And it can all happen without compromising the integrity of our natural systems or our fragile environmental quality. Read More »

Tags: 21st century cities, Cisco, city development, city transformation, Conference, IBSG, leaders, leadership, Smart Cities, urban connectivity, urban innovation, urban planning, workshop