Kazakhstan Leaders and Cisco Discuss Transformation to Innovation-Based Economy

Cisco TelePresence Brings Kazakh Employees Together for Personal Interaction with Company Chairman and CEO

ASTANA, Kazakhstan.- Mr. Karim Massimov, the prime minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan, and Mr. John Chambers, chairman and chief executive officer of Cisco, met in the Kazakh capital, Astana, to discuss how the use of technology can help the country in its transformation to an innovation-based economy. The leaders discussed the role network technologies can play in health care, education and economic development for the greater social inclusion of citizens. The meeting was also attended by Mr. Kuanyshbek Yessekeyev, chairman of the Kazakh ICT Agency, and Mr. Paul Mountford, Cisco’s president of emerging markets.

While in Astana, the company’s leaders visited the headquarters of national operator Kazakhtelecom to meet with the chairman of the board, Mr. Askar Zhumagaliev. During this visit, Chambers and Mountford were able to make the most of their time by engaging in a face-to-face dialogue with Cisco employees based in Almaty, despite the distance of more than 1,200 kilometers (close to 750 miles) between Astana and Almaty. The meeting was hosted using Kazakhtelecom’s Cisco TelePresenceTM system. Kazakhtelecom is the first service provider in the Commonwealth of Independent States to have implemented the Cisco TelePresence virtual meeting solution connecting its offices in Astana and Almaty in Kazakhstan as well as in Moscow.
Quote:

“Broadband and information and communications technology are proving to be key differentiators for Kazakhstan when it comes to socio-economic development by enabling new approaches to health care and education, key initiatives set forth by the government’s ambitious vision to be a knowledge economy,” said Paul Mountford, president of emerging markets for Cisco.

Mountford continued, “As one of the leading service providers in the region, Kazakh Telecom has recognized the power of collaboration through video technologies such as Cisco TelePresence, which is enabling them to conduct business face-to-face despite being miles away from their customers, bridging geographic and cultural boundaries to enhance their competitiveness and enhancing productivity.”
Statistics about Cisco TelePresence:

* Cisco has over 300 customers worldwide with more than 1,500 Cisco TelePresence units deployed globally.

* Within Cisco, there are 335 Cisco TelePresence rooms in operation, in 135 major cities across 40 countries globally.

* Cisco employees are attending approx. 10,000 TelePresence meetings monthly (both internally and with customers).

* Nearly 800 multipoint meetings are held per week at Cisco

* Travel avoidance: Approximately 43,000 meetings make it possible for participants to avoid traveling, with close to $169 million in travel savings for Cisco