Cisco commits $1bn to smart cities program

With the Smart City Expo World Congress being held in Barcelona this week, the event has been kicked off by an announcement from Cisco, as the technology giant has committed $1bn to its new City Infrastructure Financing Acceleration Program.

The program will aim to make it easier and cheaper for cities to adopt transformative technologies, whilst also enabling this to happen in a more efficient manner. This can include reducing energy usage, easing traffic congestion, amongst other societal improvements.

See also:

• Huawei to construct new OpenLab in Malaysia to drive digital transformation

• NVIDIA partners with Alibaba and Huawei for AI smart city

• MODON, Huawei partner for smart industrial cities

“Funding is a major stumbling block for municipalities beginning their smart city transformation,” said Anil Menon, Global President of Cisco’s Smart and Connected Communities.

This is something that the firm hopes to correct, with the $1bn of funding behind the program being provided by Cisco Capital in partnership with Digital Alpha Advisors, APG Asset Management (APG), and Whitehelm Capital.

“With our partners, Cisco will bring the capital and expertise it takes to make smart city projects a reality. Digital Alpha, APG, and Whitehelm Capital bring a fresh perspective on investment in an area that has previously been perceived as too new and, therefore, too difficult to finance.”

As other leading names including Hyperloop are also attending the Smart City Expo World Congress, further industry announcements expected to come over the next couple of days.