Cisco to open $US15 million Internet of Everything Innovation Centre
The Innovation Centre is aimed at catalysing and showcasing IoE innovation and development, bringing together customers, industry partners, start-ups, application developers, accelerators, government organisations and universities.
The official opening is planned for 2015 and will include locations in Sydney at Sirca, and in Perth at Curtin University.
Cisco intends to invest $US15 million over five years into the Centre, reaffirming its global pledge and commitment to new economic growth through technology innovation around IoE.
It will be one of eight globally including Rio de Janeiro, Toronto, Songdo, Berlin, Barcelona, Tokyo and London.
Cisco experts, together with industry partners and ecosystem start-ups, will develop proof of concepts, features and functionalities, and do rapid prototyping.
The Centre will include dedicated space 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.
The initial ecosystem partners of the Cisco IoE Innovation Centre, Australia, currently include Sirca (owned by 40 universities across Australia and New Zealand), Curtin University and Woodside Energy.
Cisco senior vice president, APJ, Irving Tan, said Australia was a sophisticated market with a high level of innovation and an early adopter of new technology.
"Australia is already highly regarded globally for its resources and agriculture sectors and is well-placed to serve the rapidly growing Asian markets, and the Australian government has prioritised these sectors accordingly," he said.
"Cisco has been involved in the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) project for over five years. 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."
IoE, which is the intelligent connection of people, processes, data and things to the Internet, brings unprecedented economic opportunities to private and public sectors.
Using 61 real-world use cases, Cisco consultants calculate that IoE-based solutions can deliver US $19 trillion of economic value worldwide over the next decade.
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According to a recent Cisco study, 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 which will help develop and test new solutions.
It will contribute to improve business outcomes and quality of life, as well as spark a new generation of start-ups and jobs in Australia.
Curtin University deputy vice-chancellor, research and development, professor Graeme Wright, said the university had been a major player in the development of Australia's capability underpinning the SKA and had built a broad base of computational and data scientists.
"We look forward to hosting the lab on our Perth Bentley Campus and working with our partners to help unlock economic and social benefit," he said.
Sirca chief executive Michael Briers, said Sirca's involvement in the Centre was an important opportunity to work with global leaders such as Cisco, as well as other partners to develop solutions for the knowledge economy.
"We have a proven track record in handling very large data sets and providing data analysis for organizations to enable better visibility and decision support," he said.
Sirca Chief strategy advisoer, Ros Harvey, said IoT could be used to tackle food security in Australia.
"By 2050 we will need to double the amount of food produced to feed the world's growing population whilst at the same time having access to less land, half the amount of fresh water, increasingly expensive fertilizer and unprecedented changes in climate," she said.
"Technology, particularly the IoT, is seen as a potential solution to this urgent challenge. As a member of the Centre, our aim is to combine Australia's strengths in agriculture with technology innovation, to make Australia the epicentre for IoT R and D in agriculture."
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