Cisco Accelerates Digital Transformation of Gujarat

Cisco has announced a series of strategic initiatives to help accelerate the digital transformation of Gujarat. Cisco signed two Memoranda of Understanding (MoU), which include establishing an Internet of Things (IoT) Innovation hub to develop and customize digital technologies and solutions with International Centre for Entrepreneurship and Technology (iCreate) and a Smart City project in Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT).

iCreate is an autonomous institute and a centre of excellence of the Government of Gujarat that has been set up under the visionary leadership of the Honorable Prime Minister Shri. Narendra Modi. iCreate’s mission is to catalyze new age entrepreneurial pursuits of the youth and focuses on innovative applications for wealth generation, employment creation and global competition. 

The MoUs were signed in the presence of the Honorable Chief Minister of Gujarat, Shri Vijay Rupani; Deputy Chief Minister of Gujarat, Shri Nitin Bhai Patel; Dr. J.N Singh, Chief Secretary, Govt of Gujarat; Shri P. K. Taneja, Additional Chief Secretary Industries and Mines Department; Additional Chief Secretary Urban Development, Shri Poonamchand Parmar; Shri Ajay Pandey, MD and Group CEO of GIFT City; Shri AnupamJalote, CEO, iCreate and Shri Dinesh Malkani, President, Cisco India and SAARC. 

Hon’ble Chief Minister of Gujarat, Shri Vijay Rupani said, “This technology will lay the foundation to transform India into a developed nation and create an enabling environment for entrepreneurship, foster innovation and accelerate economic competitiveness. My vision for the State is to digitally empower every citizen, enhance the quality of life, enable ease of doing business and become an innovation and knowledge hub for the Country. We are happy to have Cisco partner with us to help build Gujarat’s economy of the future."

Dinesh Malkani, President, Cisco India and SAARC said, ‘’Digitization and Innovation are the key drivers of the Indian economy, leading to jobs, growth and long-term prosperity. The announcement today underlines Cisco’s commitment to enable Gujarat to capitalize on digital opportunities, strengthen the vibrant innovation ecosystem in the state, enhance quality of life of citizens and accelerate the digital transformation of the state.”

Cisco in collaboration with iCreate will explore the setting up of an Internet of Things (IoT) Innovation Hub at iCreate’s new campus at Dev Dholera near Bavla, Ahmedabad, to foster local innovation. The innovation centre will enable startups and entrepreneurs to build smart city and IoT-based solutions. Cisco experts, together with industry partners and start-ups, will develop proof of concepts; identify features and functionalities required for digital solutions, and engage in rapid prototyping. Long known for its expertise in manufacturing, this IoT lab will help Gujarat leapfrog ahead of other states in the use of innovative technology solutions to increase the competitiveness and efficiency of its industries.

The Center will include a dedicated space to demonstrate IoT in action, and creates a place in which customers, startups, open communities, researchers, entrepreneurs and technology enthusiasts are invited to work and brainstorm on new ideas and technologies.

GIFT City, which is being developed as India’s 1st greenfield Smart City has many unique features being implemented for the first time in India like District Cooling solution, a first of its kind utility tunnel and ready availability of Tier IV datacenter and speedy access to global financial gateways, each aspect of this city is smart and innovative.  

Cisco and GIFT are exploring deployment of Smart City applications in the GIFT City campus, including public Wi-Fi, smart parking, smart transport, traffic analytics, Remote Expert Government Services (REGS), smart kiosk, smart environmental sensors along with City Digital Platform (CDP) and help in a establishing City Command and Control Center (C-4) to monitor and manage the City’s applications and utilities with greater efficiency and effectiveness.

Cisco will aim to collaborate with local ecosystem solution providers to build a scalable model for the effective rollout of city services across the area. This project will utilize Cisco’s global expertise and intellectual property in the areas of IoT, mobile technology and applications, cloud computing and data analytics. Cisco will also engage with ecosystem partners to develop new applications specifically for GIFT .