Cisco and ILFS Technologies Ltd (ITL) have entered into a strategic collaboration to utilize the Internet of Everything to develop digital solutions for India’s infrastructure and smart cities. Prem Saigal, Chairman, ITL, and Dinesh Malkani, President, Cisco India & SAARC, made the announcement along with Anil Menon, Cisco Deputy Chief Globalization Officer and President, Smart+Connected Communities, and Durga Prasad, CEO, ITL.
The collaboration between Cisco and ITL will focus on bringing together the best-in-class, complementary capabilities of both companies. Cisco's vision of the Internet of Everything, which is the intelligent connection of people, processes, data, and things, is already revolutionizing the way our cities operate, creating a more dynamic digital economy and also bringing new, richer experiences to citizens. IL&FS’s deep expertise in infrastructure development in India along with ITL’s excellent technology services capabilities strongly complements Cisco IoE architecture and robust vertical solutions.
The Digital India programme of the Government is focussed on the digital empowerment of citizens, where infrastructure would be offered as a utility to every citizen, governance and services would be on demand, and citizens would be digitally empowered. The Digital India programme aims to enable broadband in villages, universal phone connectivity, public Internet access points, public Wi-Fi in schools and universities, digital inclusion, electronic delivery of governance and services, and job creation.
Cisco's vision of Smart+Connected Communities, which enables the transformation of physical communities into connected communities, has been embraced by more than 90 global greenfield and brownfield projects and includes the Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor in India, where Cisco is developing the ICT master plan for four pilot cities in the US$90 billion flagship public sector infrastructure project.
Prem Saigal, Chairman, ITL, said, “We are pleased to collaborate with Cisco on the Internet of Everything to develop world-class solutions for India’s infrastructure sector and smart cities. We believe that ITL’s deep expertise in this space combined with Cisco’s Internet of Everything vision can help digitize India’s infrastructure sector and smart cities. There is a transformational opportunity to create world-class infrastructure, build smart cities and digitally empower our citizens.”
Dinesh Malkani, President, Sales, Cisco India and SAARC, said, “We are very pleased to collaborate with ITL and develop digital solutions for the infrastructure sector and smart cities in India. Today, only 1 per cent of all the things that surround us are connected to the network. In India, every day an average of 275,000 devices will be connected to the network. Our vision of the Internet of Everything is that we will live in a world where everything – and everyone – can be connected to everything else. We have the opportunity to embrace the Internet of Everything and help enable a digital India. By enabling a digitized economy, we hope to enable safer streets, smarter homes and healthier and better-educated citizens. The Internet of Everything will change how we work by delivering more information, better decisions and increased economic value.”
Some of the solutions that will be jointly developed will focus on urban services and smart city infrastructure solutions such as traffic and transportation, public safety and security, command and control services, e-governance and a broader set of next generation urban services such as parking, lighting, traffic and citizen engagement services built on top of Cisco’s City Infrastructure Management. These solutions will help citizens access, in real time, infrastructure services such as traffic, parking, lighting, and water, as well as city operators to improve city infrastructure operations through sharing information in real time across agencies and systems.
