Cisco and Metropolis Collaborate to Develop Sustainable Intelligent Cities
Collaboration Sets Up Key Components of Cisco's Global 'Intelligent Urbanisation' Initiative, in Alignment With Metropolis' 'Vision 2030'
PARIS--(Marketwire - March 9, 2009) - Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO)
Overview:
Cisco today announced that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding
(MoU) with Metropolis, an association comprised of 106 of the world's
largest cities, to develop its "Vision 2030" for sustainable cities around
the world. As part of this MoU, Cisco will advise Metropolis on how to
build a collaborative operating model between Metropolis member cities and
establish an Urban Leadership Academy to demonstrate how future cities can
effectively use technology to advance clean public transportation, decrease
pollution through intelligent urban development, offer pervasive access to
citizen-centric services and support sustainable economic growth.
Key Facts:
The announcement was made at a ceremony attended by Wim Elfrink, chief
globalisation officer and EVP, Cisco Services, and Jean-Paul Huchon,
president of Metropolis.
As part of the strategic collaboration, Cisco will collaborate with
Metropolis over an initial 2 year period to develop new practices and
enhance existing models in urban development and sustainability.
Metropolis is the world association of major metropolises and operates
as an international forum for exploring issues and concerns common to all
big cities.
The collaboration with Metropolis is a significant milestone for Cisco,
as part of its recently launched global "Intelligent Urbanisation"
initiative, as it works to help cities around the world take advantage of
the network as the next utility for integrated city management, better
quality of life for citizens, and sustained economic development.
Today's announcement builds on the strong foundation of the
collaboration between Cisco and Metropolis on the Connected
Urban Development program.
Supporting quotes:
Jean Paul Huchon, president of Metropolis
"The 21st century will be the century of metropolises. Today, more than
half the world's population lives in urban areas, and this phenomenon is
set to rapidly increase. The main priority of Metropolis today is to offer
the best to these metropolises and their populations. Signing with Cisco is
very important for our network to develop the best way to build sustainable
cities and to strengthen our goal, which is the exchange of information and
experience."
Josep Roig, secretary general of Metropolis
"Metropolis has been working with the world's larger cities for over 20
years, and we are now seeing much greater openness towards public private
partnerships in urban planning. As part of our strategic focus, we
recognize a need for technology to be incorporated into the fabric of
cities, no matter what their level of development. Public private
partnership and cooperation with companies such as Cisco represents one of
the most effective ways we can foster this spirit of innovation and make a
difference to the lives of citizens."
Wim Elfrink, chief globalisation officer and EVP, Cisco Services
"As the leading network of cities worldwide, Metropolis has long been a
pioneer in helping cities understand how to build for long-term
competitiveness. They are again leaders today in understanding how
technology can serve as the 21st century's most powerful tool for building
more intelligently and sustainably."
"Particularly in these times of massive global change, the strategic use of
technology is critical to helping cities best use their resources for
long-term growth and quality of life, including healthcare, education,
safety and security, energy conservation, transportation and real estate.
We are honored to join with them to help transform the cities of today into
the cities of the future. We believe it is critical for cities, and is an
important area of growth for Cisco."
Areas of Collaboration:
Under the terms of the MOU signed today, Cisco and Metropolis agreed to
collaborate on the following main areas:
Develop the 'Vision 2030' for Sustainable Cities: Cisco and Metropolis
will develop a long-term vision for sustainable cities enabled by networked
technologies.
Collaboration for Urban Innovation: Metropolis and Cisco will explore
the possibility of establishing regional Innovation Centres. The regional
innovation centers will anchor implementation actions on different policy
areas, associating the selected cities and Cisco to develop new platforms
and tools to manage urban services.
Cisco will also provide strategic advice on the program and support the
development of a partnership approach in urban innovation for Metropolis
and its business associates, with a specific focus on technology and
business partnerships.
Create a digital collaboration platform for Metropolis members: Cisco
will use its collaborative solutions, such as Cisco WebEx™ and Cisco
TelePresence™, to facilitate the creation of a collaborative operating
model between Metropolis and its member cities. Using a Web 2.0 approach,
Cisco will help facilitate the exchange of innovation between cities across
the world.
Establish an Urban Leadership "Academy": Cisco and Metropolis aim to
jointly develop a framework, with training and skills programs, that
demonstrates how cities can use technology more effectively to drive
sustainability. Training modules will also help city leaders, urban
planners and practitioners better understand the potential role and impact
of networked technologies on the performance of their cities.
Today's announcement builds on Cisco's thought leadership and
technology expertise with Connected Urban Development (CUD), a
public-private partnership that includes cities such as San Francisco,
Amsterdam, and Seoul, which develops replicable ICT solutions to help
promote sustainable, intelligent urban development practices.