I attended this launch on January 12, 2016 held at its headquarters in downtown Toronto at 88 Queens Quay West, one of nine Cisco Innovation Centres worldwide,
promoting/ championing the IoE (Internet of Everything). The vibe was exciting, the atmosphere electric.I was not an invited guest but was welcomed enthusiastically and treated extremely
promoting/ championing the IoE (Internet of Everything). The vibe was exciting, the atmosphere electric.I was not an invited guest but was welcomed enthusiastically and treated extremely
courteously. Wandering through the place freely, I attended a live presentation, some
live demonstrations and ended up sitting in a room with a wall size monitor watching video presentations on the other eight innovation centres. http://www.cisco.com/web/CA/innovationcenter/toronto
The idea of thought leadership — putting forth new ways of thinking around how to
leverage the connection of devices, machines, and things — will be a major focus at the
Toronto IoE Innovation Centre. In general, I learned that Cisco IoE Innovation Centers
help define relationships within the IoE ecosystem by way of increased and focused
collaboration with academia, start-ups and partners and customers — serving as a
catalyst for greater IoE adoption.
Designed to catalyze and showcase digital innovation and development, the Centre
plan is to bring together customers, industry collaborators, start-ups, application
developers, accelerators, government organizations and universities to work on real
world problems, with a focus on urban innovation (including smart cities, urban mobility,
and environmental transformation), healthcare and financial services transformation.
I saw representatives of many of these present, as well as venture capital and private
equity people and various bankers. The Cisco Canada Innovation Program is investing
up to $153 Million in Canadian companies and venture capital funds as well as the
establishment of 12 University Research Chairs across Canada, an R&D job creation
initiative with the Province of Ontario, the Pan Am/Parapan technology legacy program
and their own R&D centres across Canada. Cisco has already spent or committed $56
million of the 153 million. It has a cash hoard of $63 Billion.
live demonstrations and ended up sitting in a room with a wall size monitor watching video presentations on the other eight innovation centres. http://www.cisco.com/web/CA/innovationcenter/toronto
The idea of thought leadership — putting forth new ways of thinking around how to
leverage the connection of devices, machines, and things — will be a major focus at the
Toronto IoE Innovation Centre. In general, I learned that Cisco IoE Innovation Centers
help define relationships within the IoE ecosystem by way of increased and focused
collaboration with academia, start-ups and partners and customers — serving as a
catalyst for greater IoE adoption.
Designed to catalyze and showcase digital innovation and development, the Centre
plan is to bring together customers, industry collaborators, start-ups, application
developers, accelerators, government organizations and universities to work on real
world problems, with a focus on urban innovation (including smart cities, urban mobility,
and environmental transformation), healthcare and financial services transformation.
I saw representatives of many of these present, as well as venture capital and private
equity people and various bankers. The Cisco Canada Innovation Program is investing
up to $153 Million in Canadian companies and venture capital funds as well as the
establishment of 12 University Research Chairs across Canada, an R&D job creation
initiative with the Province of Ontario, the Pan Am/Parapan technology legacy program
and their own R&D centres across Canada. Cisco has already spent or committed $56
million of the 153 million. It has a cash hoard of $63 Billion.
The mantra of the Toronto Innovation Centre is “Inspire, Innovate and Invest”. It is
located on the 29th floor of Cisco’s new Toronto offices, and offers an open digital
platform where customers, partners, entrepreneurs and academics can create, test and
refine new solutions. It is comprised of both purpose-built and flexible collaboration
spaces of which components include:
• A dynamic classroom space where students and instructors can have handson
access to the latest technology and mentorship from Cisco engineers
• A Solutions Lab dedicated to the development of industry solutions and
addressing specific customer requirements
• A TelePresence™ room for collaboration with Cisco’s global Innovation
Centres, as well as customers, partners, academia across the country
• Several flexible rooms where customers, start-ups, researchers and
entrepreneurs are invited to work and brainstorm on new ideas and technologies.
The Innovation Centre also has access to Cisco Canada’s new Customer Experience
Centre, which showcases the latest Cisco technology and demonstrations.
Some of the investments on display were:
• A smart fire hydrant with sensors that provide data on the temperature and
pressure of city-wide fire hydrants; this is already deployed in Guelph, Ontario.
• A digital entry system in which one uses a finger or fingers to access rooms,
buildings, activate lights, etc.
• A shopper-tracking application for shopping malls which track shoppers by
virtue of their cell phones (the phone must be turned on) so that the mall can
measure traffic density in different parts of the mall with a view to increasing
traffic in lower density areas so that they can charge higher sale per square foot
rents to the stores.
• A smart lighting application which monitors light bulbs and feeds data back on
the slightest flicker, enabling its replacement before it goes dark
Cisco has a structured process for qualify funding investment candidates. A contact
person is:
located on the 29th floor of Cisco’s new Toronto offices, and offers an open digital
platform where customers, partners, entrepreneurs and academics can create, test and
refine new solutions. It is comprised of both purpose-built and flexible collaboration
spaces of which components include:
• A dynamic classroom space where students and instructors can have handson
access to the latest technology and mentorship from Cisco engineers
• A Solutions Lab dedicated to the development of industry solutions and
addressing specific customer requirements
• A TelePresence™ room for collaboration with Cisco’s global Innovation
Centres, as well as customers, partners, academia across the country
• Several flexible rooms where customers, start-ups, researchers and
entrepreneurs are invited to work and brainstorm on new ideas and technologies.
The Innovation Centre also has access to Cisco Canada’s new Customer Experience
Centre, which showcases the latest Cisco technology and demonstrations.
Some of the investments on display were:
• A smart fire hydrant with sensors that provide data on the temperature and
pressure of city-wide fire hydrants; this is already deployed in Guelph, Ontario.
• A digital entry system in which one uses a finger or fingers to access rooms,
buildings, activate lights, etc.
• A shopper-tracking application for shopping malls which track shoppers by
virtue of their cell phones (the phone must be turned on) so that the mall can
measure traffic density in different parts of the mall with a view to increasing
traffic in lower density areas so that they can charge higher sale per square foot
rents to the stores.
• A smart lighting application which monitors light bulbs and feeds data back on
the slightest flicker, enabling its replacement before it goes dark
Cisco has a structured process for qualify funding investment candidates. A contact
person is:
Rick Huijbregts, Vice President of Industry Transformation where he is responsible for
Cisco Canada’s IoE strategy and industry business development. The members of his
team are industry subject matter experts and each engage in the transformation of their
respective industries (healthcare, oil and gas, financial services, education, real estate,
and industrial sector). Huijbregts is also General Manager for Cisco Canada’s Smart +
Connected Communities practice, including Smart + Connected Real Estate.
Cisco’s plan seems to be to fund potential blockbuster start-ups with a view to acquiring
the winners out of their $64 Billion cache of cash. Some VC’s and Private Equity firms
are taking minority positions in some of these start-ups with a view to cashing out when
Cisco acquires them. In a sense Cisco is creating its own acquisitions. Not a bad
strategy, eh?!
Cisco Canada’s IoE strategy and industry business development. The members of his
team are industry subject matter experts and each engage in the transformation of their
respective industries (healthcare, oil and gas, financial services, education, real estate,
and industrial sector). Huijbregts is also General Manager for Cisco Canada’s Smart +
Connected Communities practice, including Smart + Connected Real Estate.
Cisco’s plan seems to be to fund potential blockbuster start-ups with a view to acquiring
the winners out of their $64 Billion cache of cash. Some VC’s and Private Equity firms
are taking minority positions in some of these start-ups with a view to cashing out when
Cisco acquires them. In a sense Cisco is creating its own acquisitions. Not a bad
strategy, eh?!
*Some information in this article sourced from various Cisco news releases
No comments:
Post a Comment