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’

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 WebExTM and Cisco TelePresenceTM, 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.

Links / URLs:

* Cisco Unveils “Intelligent Urbanisation” Global Blueprint http://newsroom.cisco.com/dlls/2009/prod_021209e.html

* Cisco and Incheon Free Economic Zone (IFEZ) sign MoU in Korea http://newsroom.cisco.com/dlls/2009/prod_021209d.html

* Collaboration with State of Karnataka, India, for an intelligent, smart and sustainable Bengaluru city. http://newsroom.cisco.com/dlls/2009/prod_021309b.html

* Cisco Globalisation Perspectives http://www.cisco.com/go/globalisation

* Globalisation news and media resources http://newsroom.cisco.com/globalisation

* Connected Urban Development program http://www.cisco.com/web/about/ac79/ps/cud/index.html

* Subscribe to Cisco RSS Feeds http://newsroom.cisco.com/dlls/rss.html

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