Cisco logs on to digi drive in Telangana

​Hyderabad: US-based multinational technology firm, Cisco Systems Inc, on Thursday announced a slew of strategic initiatives to help accelerate the digital transformation of Telangana.

To kickstart the startup State’s digital transformation journey, the Nasdaq-listed, $50-billion conglomerate signed an MoU with the Telangana government, which envisages the deployment of a Digital Zone project.

Cisco will deploy its digital platform in the 2.2-kilometre area near Hitec City in Hyderabad, including smart Wi-Fi, smart parking, smart lighting, traffic analytics at key junctions, emote Expert for Government Services (REGS), smart environmental sensors, smart waste management, and a smart control centre to monitor and manage the city with greater efficiency and effectiveness.

Cisco will engage with the ecosystem partners to develop new applications specifically for Indian smart cities and collaborate with the State for its upcoming smart cities in Telangana.

Signed between Cisco and the Telangana government as part of the IT Sectoral Policy launch programme in Hyderabad on Thursday, the MoU also calls for digitisation of the historical Qutub Shahi Tombs that lie in close proximity to the Golkonda Fort in Hyderabad.

As a part of the digital blueprint crafted by Telangana, Cisco will deploy its digital solutions to enhance the experience of visitors to the Qutub Shahi Tombs and boost tourism in the State. It will deploy public Wi-Fi, surveillance, smart lighting and smart parking solutions to provide visitors and details of the monuments in the area.

“Digitisation will be key to how cities, communities and countries maintain global competitiveness, increase GDP growth, foster innovation and create new jobs. The government’s vision to transform Telangana into a digital State is visionary and will create huge opportunities for the State, its citizens and the nation. We are committed to help make Telangana a truly digital State in India,” Dinesh Malkani, President (India and Saarc), Cisco, told reporters.

To help deliver remote interactive education, bringing in benefits of virtual expert learning, Cisco will set up virtual video-based classrooms in 10 remote schools in Karimnagar district for inter-school learning. The solution will connect the district school to the remote schools for the sharing of faculty. Cisco will deploy the solution to connect these schools over HD-quality video conferencing to share the faculty across the connected schools.

Besides, Cisco will set up a centre of excellence (CoE) and a ‘Living Lab’ on the T-Hub premises to foster regional innovation, and will enable partners and startups to build solutions around Internet of Things (IoT) and cyber security and engage in rapid prototyping.

“I envision digitally empowering every citizen, enhancing quality of life of citizens, accelerating economic competitiveness, boosting local innovation and becoming a knowledge and technology hub of the country. We are happy to partner with Cisco for this transformative project, and we believe Cisco’s global experience and expertise in digitisation will benefit Telangana immensely,” said State IT and Industries Minister K T Rama Rao.