Intelligent CIO Europe Issue 03 | Page 15

NEWS Altice Portugal and Cisco present state- of-the-art IoT solution To put the commitment established in this memorandum into practice, in collaboration with Janz, Altice Portugal and Cisco showed a state-of-the-art IoT solution during the event. The solution consists of a proof of concept of Water Telemetry to explore the capabilities of the Cisco Ultra IoT system, aimed at launching new IoT services. The Cisco system ensures mobile data switching, based on the StarOS virtualisation environment, is capable of 5G and enables the availability of the new mobile network protocols targeted at IoT, namely NarrowBand-IoT (NB-IoT) and is complemented by the eSCEF module. T NB-IoT is a new connectivity technology suitable for IoT applications, allowing communications in a system with low consumption of equipment’s batteries and enabling the increased life of IoT equipment. Reinforcing its consolidated strategy of association with the most prestigious technological events, Altice Portugal was at the Mobile World Congress 2018, in which it entered into the MoU with Cisco. The Water Telemetry solution which has been developed effectively tests this new technology as it requires standalone battery-powered equipment capable of withstanding high autonomy, often installed in hard-to-reach locations with broad coverage needs. There are numerous case studies in the IoT area, such as gas and electricity metering, intelligent parking, asset and animal tracking, or the safety of people which can benefit from NB-IoT technology. he Mobile World Congress 2018 was the stage chosen for the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Altice Portugal and Cisco. In this event, the two partners shared a space to demonstrate the new NB-IoT service, the first use case included in this MoU, signed on February 27, which aims to accelerate the development of IoT. ///////////////// Cisco and Portugal’s government announce plans for digitisation T he Government of Portugal and Cisco signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to accelerate country digitisation. The signing followed a meeting between Portugal’s Prime Minister António Costa, Cisco Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Chuck Robbins, and Sofia Tenreiro, General Manager of Cisco Portugal. Over the next two years, Portugal and Cisco will cooperate to capture opportunities presented by a digital economy, with the aim to positively impact economic growth, education, innovation and competitiveness, as well as social inclusion and quality of life. The MoU will focus on several key points that are part of Portugal’s National Reforms Program. These include: support for entrepreneurship and business innovation, with a specific focus on start-ups; increasing and improving digital skills; the application of innovative digital technologies across public sector services, education, Industry 4.0 and mobility; and cybersecurity. António Costa, Prime Minister of Portugal, commented: “By accelerating the national digitisation agenda, Portugal can increase GDP growth, create jobs and improve digital inclusion for our people and businesses. We strongly welcome Cisco’s contribution to create a sustainable innovation ecosystem that will enable our country to better compete in the global digital economy.” www.intelligentcio.com Chuck Robbins, Chairman and CEO, Cisco, contributed: “Cisco is proud to partner with Portugal’s government, businesses and citizens in its commitment to digitise the nation and become a European leader in digital transformation. We are committed to helping accelerate the Portuguese ecosystem of talent, entrepreneurship and innovation that is key to creating a digital Portugal and can bring even greater value to the country.” INTELLIGENTCIO 15