Cisco announces the opening of a new Cisco Internet of Everything (IoE)
Innovation Centre in Australia.
One of Cisco’s eight IoE Innovation Centres globally, the new Australian
Centre will be officially opened this year and will include locations in Sydney
at Sirca, and in Perth at Curtin University.
Designed to serve as a hub of open innovation, Cisco’s IoE Innovation
Centres aim to catalyse and showcase IoE innovation and development, bringing
together customers, industry partners, start-ups, application developers,
accelerators, government organisations and universities. The new Centre in
Australia will be one of eight worldwide including Rio de Janeiro, Toronto,
Songdo, Berlin, Barcelona, Tokyo and London.
Cisco intends to invest US $15 million over five years into the Centre,
reaffirming its global pledge and commitment to new economic growth through
technology innovation around IoE.
Cisco experts, together with industry partners and ecosystem start-ups,
will develop proof of concepts, features and functionalities, and do rapid
prototyping. Dedicated spaces to demonstrate IoE in action and open areas where
customers, start-ups, open communities, researchers, entrepreneurs and
technology enthusiasts are invited to work and brainstorm on new ideas and
technologies are some of the highlights of the Centre.
The initial ecosystem partners of the Cisco IoE Innovation Centre,
Australia include Sirca (owned by 40 universities across Australia and New
Zealand), Curtin University and Woodside Energy.
According to Irving Tan, Senior Vice President Asia Pacific and Japan at
Cisco, Australia is a sophisticated market with a high level of innovation, and
an early adopter of new technology. Already highly regarded globally for its
resources and agriculture sectors, Australia is well-placed to serve the
rapidly growing Asian markets, with the Australian Government having
prioritised these sectors accordingly.
Cisco has been involved in the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) project for
over five years. He added that the aim now with Cisco IoE Innovation Centre,
Australia and its ecosystem of partners is to accelerate innovation and the
adoption of the IoE in Australia.
Described as the intelligent connection of people, processes, data and
things to the Internet, IoE brings unprecedented economic opportunities to
private and public sectors. Cisco consultants have used 61 real-world use cases
to calculate that IoE-based solutions can deliver US $19 trillion of economic
value worldwide over the next decade. A recent Cisco study reveals Australia is
one of the countries with the greatest potential to benefit from IoE, thanks to
its proximity to Asia, its well-trained engineers and its innovation power.
Cisco estimates the potential IoE Value at Stake for the Australian economy to
be more than US $74 billion over the next 10 years.
The Cisco IoE Innovation Centre, Australia will be a platform for
technology ideas and open innovation to help develop and test new solutions.
The Centre will contribute to improving business outcomes and quality of life,
as well as spark a new generation of start-ups and jobs in Australia.