Deliver Your News to the World

IBM and Cisco Collaborate on City of Amsterdam Smarter Energy Project


WEBWIRE

Pilot to help 500 Amsterdam households cut energy bills and reduce CO2 emissions

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands - Cisco and IBM (NYSE: IBM) announced that they are teaming on a pilot to help the Dutch utility Nuon and the city of Amsterdam make smarter use of energy by enabling consumers to make more informed decisions about their energy consumption. The pilot program is part of the Amsterdam Smart City initiative, in which citizens, governments and companies are working together to make more efficient use of energy, water and mobility to create a more sustainable city.

The consortium will jointly implement an innovative energy management system based on smart metering and home energy management technology, which will enable 500 selected households to gain better insight into their energy consumption and help drive change in usage behavior. It is anticipated that as a result of the pilot, customers will be able to save on energy costs and realize a CO2 reduction of at least 14 percent.

Smart meters and home energy management systems will be installed in the 500 households that participate in the pilot. Within this consortium, Nuon and IBM will develop the applications for the energy management system, making use of intelligent IT systems and well-protected web technology. Cisco will be responsible for the IP-based home energy management solutions that help enable real-time, highly secure connectivity between household appliances and the energy system, resulting in substantial efficiencies.

Through this project, IBM and Cisco aim to demonstrate how intelligence throughout the electrical grid can dramatically reduce outages and faults, improve responsiveness, handle current and future demand, increase efficiency and manage costs.

“Now that more than half of the global population lives in cities, we need to acknowledge that achieving a sustainable future lies in our urban centers,” said Guido Bartels, General Manager of IBM’s Global Energy & Utilities industry. “Smarter energy initiatives are foundational for other critical infrastructure systems that make up a city—this project will enable the City of Amsterdam to leverage integrated, intelligent and interconnected technologies to transform their systems and optimize the use of finite resources.”

“Giving the citizens of Amsterdam more information and better control over their energy use will cut down on costs and consumption as well as reduce their overall impact on the environment,” said Marthin de Beer, senior vice president of Cisco’s Emerging Technologies Group. “Innovative cities like Amsterdam recognize the opportunity in using the standards-based intelligent communications network as a platform for economic development, better city management and improved quality of life for citizens. With this pilot, we hope to demonstrate how smart and connected communities can be more energy conscious and more green.”

The energy management pilot in Amsterdam has been realized with the help of several program partners housing corporations Far West and Ymere, Amsterdamse Innovatie Motor, Home Automation Europe, ROC Amsterdam, the University of Amsterdam and Grid Operator Alliander. The pilot is co-funded by the European Fund for Regional Development.
About Cisco

Cisco, (NASDAQ: CSCO), is the worldwide leader in networking that transforms how people connect, communicate and collaborate. Information about Cisco can be found at http://www.cisco.com. For ongoing news, please go to http://newsroom.cisco.com. Cisco equipment in Europe is supplied by Cisco Systems International BV, a wholly owned subsidiary of Cisco Systems, Inc.
About IBM

IBM is working with clients in nearly 50 Smart Grid engagements across emerging and mature markets. More about IBM’s vision to bring a new level of intelligence to how the world works—how every person, business, organization, government, natural system, and man-made system interacts, can be found here: http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/presskit/26094.wss

For more information on smart utilities at IBM visit:
http://www.ibm.com/energy



WebWireID99287





This news content was configured by WebWire editorial staff. Linking is permitted.

News Release Distribution and Press Release Distribution Services Provided by WebWire.