Harnessing the Power of the Digital Revolution to Accelerate Global Problem Solving

Imagine a world where… A generation with digital skills is thriving. A refugee becomes a sought-after employee. Military veterans excel in their second careers. Students create a sensor-enabled early warning system for earthquakes. All communities have access to clean water. A game warden can use data to protect endangered rhinos. Drones can replant a rainforest.

That world is here, that time is now. Welcome to the digital revolution.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1dx06l6T9k&feature=youtu.be

Today, technology and data intelligence are allowing people to change the way we address and ultimately solve our most pressing social and environmental challenges. Digitization is leading to a greater understanding of the connection and interdependency between business, society, and the planet. Cisco’s CEO, Chuck Robbins sums it up nicely: “What is good for the world and what is good for business are more closely connected than ever before.”

As a company, we strive to inspire, connect, and invest in opportunities that accelerate global problem solving – empowering people everywhere to work toward eradicating poverty, unemployment, climate change, and hunger. Now, we have the opportunity to harness the power of the digital revolution.

This is an inclusive revolution – where anyone can be a global problem solver. For example:

Two young women from Columbia University who are developing a simple, low-cost, low-power, wearable sensor, Neopenda, that helps improve care of newborns in resource-constrained hospitals. Neopenda continuously monitors newborns’ key vital signs and alerts attending healthcare professionals when a newborn is in distress. The start-up received award funding from Cisco in April 2016 and has since then, received more than half a million dollars in additional funding from other investors to make their first field deployment in Uganda a reality.

Living Goods’ network of community health agents, who use mobile technology to improve the health of families in their communities. These entrepreneurs go door to door selling life-changing health and hygiene products and providing health education. Cisco began support in 2012 for the mobile technology tool that is now the backbone of this model. Living Goods has grown from 400 community health agents serving 200,000 clients in 2012 to 4000 serving three million clients today, including 675,000 children. Their efforts have lowered child mortality by 25 percent at an annual cost of less than $2 USD per person, while creating livelihoods for thousands of women.

The people empowering organizations to map clean drinking water projects with mobile technology. Cisco supported Water for People in 2010, and made further investments to Akvo in 2012, for the creation and development of the FLOW application. This mobile tool collects and analyzes data on water projects in the developing world and has benefited more than 3.5 million people.

The six million students who have participated in the Cisco Networking Academy program since 1997. Regardless of their socio-economic background or gender, Networking Academy students develop the expertise to master, succeed, and lead in the digital economy. Together with our 9,500-plus educational partners in more than 170 countries, we are building intellectual capital in networking, security, and IOT technologies – the critical technical skills required by nearly every business on the planet.

The digital revolution will transform every aspect of our lives. The problems that we see in the world can and need to be solved. Our hope is that everyone understands that they have a role to play. Everyone has the potential to become a global problem solver – to innovate as a technologist, think as an entrepreneur, and act as a social change agent.

As Corporate Affairs we commit to…

Developing digital skills to inspire people to become global problem solvers.

Connecting and catalyzing an innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystem that supports progress and inclusive growth.

Investing in global problem solvers who are applying innovative solutions and harnessing the power of the digital revolution.

…Positively impacting 1 billion people by 2025.

There has never been a better time to be a global problem solver. Learn more at http://csr.cisco.com/stories