INTELLIGENT BRANDS // Cloud
Cisco announces $1 billion
programme for Smart Cities
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S
o-called ‘smart cities’ have less pollution, safer streets, and
better quality of life for citizens. But many finance officers
struggle to fund the upgrades that will make their cities smart.
To help, Cisco has introduced the City Infrastructure Financing
Acceleration Program. It is a $1 billion programme aimed to make it
easier, faster, and more affordable for cities around the world to fund
and adopt technologies that will transform their communities. with minimal initial investment. Whether a city is looking to reduce
energy usage, ease traffic and parking, or boost public transportation
ridership and revenues, the programme will help cities with solutions.
Revenue-share financing, for instance, even allows a city to tie
financing to desired outcomes and extend future operating budgets
through revenue streams from the new services that a digitised
infrastructure makes possible.
The funding will be provided through Cisco Capital® in partnership
with private equity firm Digital Alpha Advisors and pension fund
investors APG Asset Management (APG) and Whitehelm Capital. Additionally, at the recent Smart City Expo World Congress, Cisco
announced added functionality to its newly renamed connected
digital platform, Cisco® Kinetic for Cities, which integrated with the
Cisco Kinetic IoT data platform. The new features provide enhanced
support for public safety. From the new full-policy automation
options to an improved dashboard with integrated video, updates
to the platform put citizen safety first. Real-time notification of
emergency information now draws on additional IoT data sources
and Cisco Spark™ Collaboration, enabling faster emergency response.
“Funding is a major stumbling block for municipalities beginning
their smart city transformation,” said Anil Menon, Global President
of Cisco’s Smart+Connected Communities. “With our partners,
Cisco will bring the capital and expertise it takes to make smart city
projects a reality. Digital Alpha, APG, and Whitehelm Capital bring a
fresh perspective on investment in an area that has previously been
perceived as too new and, therefore, too difficult to finance.”
The programme helps cities assemble the right type or suite of
finance instruments to fund and deploy innovative technology
Cisco has also announced new purchasing options for Cisco Kinetic
for Cities, including prepackaged starter solutions, which combine
the Cisco IoT data platform, solution, and services with those from its
ecosystem partners into ready-to-roll-out, end-to-end solution suites. n
Anil Menon, Global President of Cisco’s
Smart+Connected Communities
www.intelligentcio.com
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