Cisco, worldwide leader in IT that helps organisations discover and seize the opportunities of tomorrow by connecting people, information sources, things and processes in new ways, has become a member of Forum Virium Helsinki in Finland. Cisco is one of the world’s biggest suppliers of network solutions. As much as 80% of the world’s Internet traffic flows through routers made by Cisco.
Cisco was founded in 1984 by husband and wife Len Bosack and Sandy Lerner, who both studied at Stanford University. Tommi Katainen, head of the Cisco Public sales team in Finland, explains that Cisco wants to work together with Forum Virium to turn Helsinki into the most functional smart city in the world.
What inspired Cisco to join Forum Virium?
“Forum Virium wants to develop Helsinki into a functional smart city. Cisco collaborates closely with cities around the world, exploring how various smart city and IoT (Internet of Things) projects can benefit cities. We also want to make sure that the IT environment needed for these types of projects functions well now and in the future.”
What does Cisco do?
“Cisco is known as a manufacturer of network devices, data security equipment and server solutions. Cisco is also involved in the building of smart cities through various development projects.”
Tell us something interesting from the company’s rich history
“Cisco was originally called ‘cisco Systems’. The story goes that one of Cisco’s two founders, Sandy Lerner, derived the name from the city name San Francisco, and spelled the name with a lowercase c on purpose. Employees also embraced the lowercase c, believing that it highlighted the company’s uniqueness.”
What kind of direction are smart cities developing in?
“Smart cities are increasingly developing into platforms, on top of which companies can build new types of business. The key factor driving this development is data, which can be utilised in numerous ways. This requires cities to adopt operating models that are very different from the ones that they are traditionally used to. This development will also have a major impact on the internal operations of cities.”
How can we work together to make Helsinki the most functional smart city in the world?
“Networks play a larger role in smart city and IoT projects than ever before. While these projects progress, the range of different terminals, IoT and the resulting cyber security threats are all growing rapidly. This in turn means that automated network infrastructure, integrated data security, performance and easy manageability are becoming increasingly important factors. We strongly believe that we can build Helsinki into a leading smart city through collaborative design, which takes into account the City’s strategy, smart city and IoT projects and the new requirements for IT environments resulting from them.”
Forum Virium would like to extend a warm welcome to its newest member, Cisco!
Have a look at Cisco’s website.
Together with companies, the science community and citizens, Forum Virium Helsinki is making Helsinki the smartest city in the world.