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Nicola Villa

Managing Director, Global Analytics Practice

Cisco Consulting Services

Nicola Villa, a 15-year veteran of Cisco, is Managing Director of the Cisco Consulting Services Global Analytics Practice, which deploys an innovative consulting approach to developing customer insights based on network (“Big Data”) and Analytics.

Previously, Villa was a senior director in the Cisco Internet Business Solutions Group (IBSG), leading the Public Sector Practice as global director. The Practice engaged with globally innovative public-sector organizations on Open Innovation programs in central and local governments, education, and public safety.

He was also head of Local Government and Broadband for IBSG, and was in charge of consulting activities across Europe, Middle East, Africa, and Latin America. In addition, he set up IBSG’s consulting operations in Southern Europe. In 1998, Villa developed and ran Cisco’s first Internet Commerce program, the world’s largest business-to-business e-commerce website at the time of its implementation.

Villa also managed Cisco’s Connected Urban Development program, which was part of Cisco’s commitment to the Clinton Global Initiative to develop innovative information and communications technology (ICT) and broadband solutions in large metropolitan areas to help reduce CO2 emissions.

He is an executive board member of the World Economic Forum’s “Future of Urbanization” program, and an advisor to Metropolis, the global network of metropolitan regions through its Partnership for Urban Innovation Commission.

He has a strong focus on innovation and sustainability policy, and collaborates with central government agencies, often at the Cabinet level, to support the creation of national innovation, ICT, and broadband strategies.

Villa is an Italian national who has been living in the United Kingdom and in the Netherlands for several years. He studied business economics at the Universita’ Cattolica in Milan and at the Brighton University in the United Kingdom. Villa wrote his thesis on industrial economics, analyzing the effects of technical standardization policies on the Internet and GSM telephony market.

Articles

October 14, 2015

3

ANALYTICS & AUTOMATION

Digitizing the Business: Three Tips for IT and Business Leaders

The exciting trend of digital transformation has accelerated the demands on IT leaders to help their business counterparts get value out of data. The large majority of data companies collect is never analyzed. In the quest to find untapped efficiencies, achieve competitive differentiation, and accel…

September 24, 2015

4

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

The Internet of Food – Improving Lives

A sense of great pride came over me as I entered the Expo in Milan­ to attend the Cisco Internet of Food international press event. This event is where Cisco brings food and digital technologies together in a world of apps, services and technologies that are changing the way food is produced, distri…

July 1, 2015

20

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

Data Analytics: Transforming Journeys

It’s dawn and I’m catching the fast train from Amsterdam to Paris. Three days of meetings and a view of one of the most fantastic cities in the world. While stepping onto the train, I had a déjà vu moment that took me back to being a student when I traveled around Europe with a train ticket in my ba…

February 25, 2015

1

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

Real-Time Analytics Can Make the “Last Checkout Line” a Reality—and Drive Bottom-Line Gains for Retailers

As retailers compete for consumers’ attention—and purchases—they are always looking for ways to deliver a better shopping experience that will make customers want to come back to the store, again and again. A good starting point is to eliminate some of the common frustrations of the shopping experie…

January 7, 2015

DATA CENTER

How To Gain an Edge by Taking Data Analytics to the Edge

In Part 1 of this blog series, I talked about how data integration provides a critical foundation for capturing actionable insights that generate improved outcomes. Now, in Part 2, I’ll focus on the two other challenges that must be met to extract value from data: 1) automating the collection of dat…

December 16, 2014

2

DATA CENTER

Why Data Integration Provides the Critical Foundation for Capturing Actionable Insights

We all know that Big Data is getting bigger. And, the gap between the amount of data with hidden value and the amount of value that is actually extracted keeps widening. In fact, according to IDC, less than 1 percent of the world’s data is currently being analyzed. What good is data if it doesn’t pr…

October 22, 2014

1

DATA CENTER

Creating Value from Connections—While They’re Still Valuable

We’ve reached the 8th installment of our blog series on Cisco’s Big Data and Analytics vision (beginning with Scott Ciccone’s blog on September 23). No doubt by now you have either seen or heard about Cisco’s broad data and analytics portfolio presented at Strataconf in New York on Oct. 15. And if y…

August 6, 2014

DATA CENTER

Analytics: A New Model for Creating Great, Personalized Customer Experiences

While certainly exciting, buying a new house, can also serve as a revealing exercise in understanding data science. A couple of weeks ago I went to my bank to investigate my financial options for buying a new house. To my surprise, my account manager gave me a stack of paperwork to fill out—and I so…

May 8, 2014

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

Driving Serious Digital Disruption, with a Spirit of Fun

Not all workdays begin with a convoy of cyclists hailing from India, Saudi Arabia, Europe, and America. And fewer still wind up with creations made of LEGOs, spaghetti, string, and marshmallows. Yet every workday — no matter how challenging — should have the same spirit of diversity, adventure, and…