Cisco wants to partner in government’s initiative to build smart cities, broadband projects
Pankaj Patel said the company has been working with Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor Development Corporation for developing smart cities.
By Anandita Singh Mankotia, ET Bureau | Updated:
NEW DELHI: Cisco Systems, the US-based networking major, wants to partner in the Indian government’s initiative to build smart cities and is offering to provide the last-mile connectivity at villages under the national broadband project, which is the backbone for the Digital India programme.
Speaking to ET, Pankaj Patel, the company's global head for engineering, said Cisco had already undertaken projects to convert more than 80 cities across the world into smart cities.
The Indian government is currently busy identifying the 100 cities which it wants to convert into smart cities. With its experience in the field, Cisco can help the government achieve the results in a time-bound manner, Patel said.
Patel said the company has been working with Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor Development Corporation for developing smart cities.
“One will need to identify the areas and the issues that need to be tackled while converting a city into a smart city. Then the layers need to be built around that,” he said.
Quoting from an example, Patel said it took the company four years to convert Barcelona into a smart city. The project which began in 2010 was themed around safety of its citizens. “The city management took a top down approach, from using information technology to make citizens safe we connected street lighting, parking, the water and waste management and so on. As information is exchanged, data is collected, it helps drive efficiencies, improves experiences and eases the life of citizens on an overall basis.
The project generated as many as 45,000 jobs.
The data received from multiple embedded sensors on connected devices can be leveraged, to reroute traffic and reduce accidents, identify crime hot spots and target resources for crime reduction, and prevent or mitigate the impact of natural calamities like a Tsunami.
According to a data complied through live projects by Cisco, from cities around the world, a smart city can save energy by 20%, reduce water consumption by 50%, crime by 20%, traffic by 30%and cut education costs by $3 a month and healthcare by $3 a month.
Speaking to ET, Pankaj Patel, the company's global head for engineering, said Cisco had already undertaken projects to convert more than 80 cities across the world into smart cities.
The Indian government is currently busy identifying the 100 cities which it wants to convert into smart cities. With its experience in the field, Cisco can help the government achieve the results in a time-bound manner, Patel said.
Patel said the company has been working with Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor Development Corporation for developing smart cities.
“One will need to identify the areas and the issues that need to be tackled while converting a city into a smart city. Then the layers need to be built around that,” he said.
Quoting from an example, Patel said it took the company four years to convert Barcelona into a smart city. The project which began in 2010 was themed around safety of its citizens. “The city management took a top down approach, from using information technology to make citizens safe we connected street lighting, parking, the water and waste management and so on. As information is exchanged, data is collected, it helps drive efficiencies, improves experiences and eases the life of citizens on an overall basis.
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The project generated as many as 45,000 jobs.
The data received from multiple embedded sensors on connected devices can be leveraged, to reroute traffic and reduce accidents, identify crime hot spots and target resources for crime reduction, and prevent or mitigate the impact of natural calamities like a Tsunami.
According to a data complied through live projects by Cisco, from cities around the world, a smart city can save energy by 20%, reduce water consumption by 50%, crime by 20%, traffic by 30%and cut education costs by $3 a month and healthcare by $3 a month.
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As the Chief Globalisation Officer at Cisco, Wim Elfrink prides himself on applying digital overlay to physical infrastructure.
He's also the brain behind the 2.18 million square feet Cisco Smart Campus in Bengaluru that houses eight glass-and-concrete buildings showcasing a digitally connected and sustainable environment where 8,500-odd techies don't have an assigned workplace.
The campus ecosystem resembles a smart city and is in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's big idea of digitising India by setting up 100 smart cities.
As the Chief Globalisation Officer at Cisco, Wim Elfrink prides himself on applying digital overlay to physical infrastructure.
He's also the brain behind the 2.18 million square feet Cisco Smart Campus in Bengaluru that houses eight glass-and-concrete buildings showcasing a digitally connected and sustainable environment where 8,500-odd techies don't have an assigned workplace.
The campus ecosystem resembles a smart city and is in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's big idea of digitising India by setting up 100 smart cities.
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