The Formula for Making the Smart City Dream a Reality

It has been an extremely busy and exciting month for us. Our secure data platform was officially renamed to Cisco Kinetic for Cities. We collaborated with Ferrovial to deliver a dynamic waste collection project in Granada, Spain. Chuck sat down with the Wall Street Journal to discuss our smart cities vision. And we made a big splash at this year’s Smart City Expo World Congress with the announcement of a $1 Billion financing program to accelerate smart city development, along with revealing new features and customers for Cisco Kinetic for Cities.

From all the feedback and conversations regarding our momentum and leadership in the smart cities market, we can reflect on a few key insights that continue to shine as imperative pieces of the puzzle that work together to help build a smart, connected community. Cisco’s Global Managing Director for Smart Cities and IoT, Amr Salem, summarizes this perfectly in the video below.

As we move along, further into this journey toward making cities smarter and more securely connected, a collection of truths reveal themselves.

First, visionary leadership is of paramount importance in successfully bringing about change. New business models will provide game-changing opportunities to take advantage of untapped sources of value. Smart city initiatives are a team sport, only with trusted ecosystems and partnerships will goals be achieved. Data is flowing all around us, making regulatory policies a pressing issue in order to adequately protect investments, people and digital infrastructure. With connectivity growing exponentially, global open standards will be imperative to assure inclusivity, direct participation and transparency. And finally, people are the most valuable assets that communities have – training and education for the digital future will lay the foundations for ongoing success.

The path to smart cities is a journey, not a destination. Here at Cisco, we’ve learned a great deal in our decade-long leadership in helping those on quests toward their own unique smart city dreams. With more and more successful leaps forward, we’re invigorated by the mounting possibilities for growth and prosperity.