Cisco bags deals to build IoT innovation hub, smart city in Gujarat

Cisco will collaborate with ICreate to set up an IoT-based innovation centre, besides developing GIFT-city as a smart city

US-based technology major Cisco on Thursday said it has inked two agreements with the International Centre for Entrepreneurship and Technology (iCreate) and GIFT in Gujarat for setting up an IoT innovation hub and a smart city project.

"Cisco signed two Memoranda of Understanding (MoU), which include establishing an Internet of Things (IoT) Innovation hub to develop and customise digital technologies and solutions with International Centre for Entrepreneurship and Technology (iCreate) and a smart city project in Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT)," Cisco said in a statement.

No financial details of the two projects were disclosed.

ICreate is an autonomous institute that aims to catalyse new age entrepreneurial pursuits of the youth. Chaired by Additional Chief Secretary Industries and Mines Department, PK Taneja, iCreate's Advisory Board is headed by Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy.

Cisco, in collaboration with iCreate, will explore the setting up of an Internet of Things (IoT) Innovation Hub at the latter's new campus at Dev Dholera, Gujarat 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 startups, will develop proof of concepts; identify features and functionalities required for digital solutions, and engage in rapid prototyping, the company said.

"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," Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani said.

Besides, 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 and smart environmental sensors.

This project will utilise Cisco's global expertise and intellectual property in the areas of IoT, mobile technology and applications, cloud computing and data analytics, the statement said.

Cisco will also engage with ecosystem partners to develop new applications specifically for GIFT, it added.