Cisco 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. Cisco will collaborate with Metropolis over an initial 2 year period to develop new practices and enhance existing models in urban development and sustainability.
The collaboration with Metropolis is a 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.
“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,” said Jean Paul Huchon, president of Metropolis.
“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,” said Wim Elfrink, chief globalisation officer and EVP, Cisco Services.
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.
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.
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.