By Don Southerton, Songdo IBD CityTalk Editor
This video does an awesome job showcasing Songdo IBD –a smart connected community. Cisco, too, has embraced Songdo IBD and its potential.
In this second video, Dr. Jorge Nelson hosts an informative vodcast about International School Songdo’s 21st century model for education– a key aspect being smart city technology.
By Don Southerton, Songdo IBD CityTalk Editor and Chief Blogger
Songdo IBD and Cisco are a great fit. I support both. This Economic Times article shares “Why” Cisco is investing heavy in the project.
Technoholik: Can Delhi ever be an Incheon?
23 Oct 2009, 0544 hrs IST, Abhimanyu Radhakrishnan, ET Bureau
When the folks at Cisco called up last month, inviting me to cover a conference on ‘Sustainable Cities of the Future’ in Incheon, South Korea, I was a bit confused. Firstly, why in the world was a company that mainly makes routers and switches hosting an urban issues conference mainly for Mayoral delegations from around the world?
Secondly, why did they think Technoholik would be interested? Well, it seems that Cisco sees itself as an “infrastructure” company and they want to expand the definition of that word – which brings roads, bridges, buildings and electricity to mind – to include IT as a fundamental component. I was still skeptical, but when they assured me that there would actually be live demos, it seemed like it could make interesting viewing for our television show on ET NOW.
Cisco had chosen Seoul’s twin city as the showcase since Incheon was rebuilding itself for the 2014 Asian Games (it incidentally pipped Delhi in the final round of voting). On arriving at Incheon airport, which serves as Seoul’s international airport as well, my mind began to race. How did the city that I had just arrived from, even think that it stood a chance?
The already modern city of Incheon wasn’t just upgrading – it was building an entire new district called Songdo , largely reclaimed from the sea, as part of a new Incheon Free Economic Zone (IFEZ) to take advantage of its imminent fame as Asian Games host.
The advantage of building from scratch of course, is that they can incorporate the kind of futuristic tech that folks like Cisco are hoping will be a part of every major city in the near future. We’re not talking about flying cars. But if your traffic lights and electric grid are on a network, while your automobile number plates have smart tags embedded, cities can save power by switching off street lights when no cars are on certain parts of the road. Plumbing and gas lines can be maintained better with sensors while energy consumption can be monitored and optimised .
Lets take buildings as another example. At the construction stage itself along with laying ducts for electricity and gas, builders of the future will lay network cables and sensors into the steel and concrete itself. One such developer in Songdo, GALE International , actually had a ‘wired’ building up and running, which was entirely IP-enabled .
The resident could control every light switch, door, security camera, window shade and appliance from a set of touchscreen panels in the house. This wasn’t just for convenience – the main draw was the ability to see how much energy the apartment was consuming (and more importantly , wasting) so that adjustments could be made by allowing natural light and heat using window shades, switching off parts of the central AC, and turning off unused power sources. This was being done both for individual dwellings and for common areas of the building.
The “media room” of course had a videoconferencing unit (Cisco’s high-end “TelePresence” system, what else!) built into the large-screen home theatre. The interesting thing was that one could access various services via the large LCD TV in a sort of “municipal app store” way. One could dial in and videochat with the local police department , the school, civic services, supermarkets or just browse the interactive options they offered.
Cisco in fact hopes to convince cities that such an approach could actually generate additional revenue apart from providing basic services more efficiently. You can see this futuristic building and some more examples of urban tech from Incheon on the Technoholik show this weekend! In fact my two days in Incheon seemed even more of a mirage of sorts, these past few weeks, as I scanned the papers and our lack of preparedness for the Commonwealth Games dominated the headlines. But a glimmer of hope came from one of those headlines when I read that Sam Pitroda had been appointed advisor of Cabinet Rank to the Prime Minister on, get this, Infrastructure, Innovation and Information! Our wired future hopefully, ain’t that far away!
By Don Southerton, Songdo IBD CityTalk Editor and Chief Blogger
On Saturday August 22 PST (Sunday August 23 in Korea) from Cisco’s Irvine, CA offices, I shared an amazing experience with a team of new Korea-based International School Songdo ISS) educators. My work centers on training and coaching executives and teams on Korean culture, norms, history, and expectations. I was thrilled to use Cisco’s TP 3000 telepresence technology to provide the new ISS team with insights into Korea and Songdo IBD.The training session aligned with both Songdo IBD core value as an ubiquitous city, and ISS as a model for Classroom 2.0 education. (For more information of ISS teaching model see Headmaster Dr. Jorge Nelson’s December 2008 comments of Learning- centric teaching).
By Don Southerton, Songdo IBD CityTalk Editor and Chief Blogger
I had the opportunity to meet and spend time with the Cisco team at the Songdo IBD Grand Opening last week. I also was given a VIP tour of their pavilion at the Incheon Fair. Songdo IBD fits well with Cisco plans as noted in this PR. I’ll share more as it unfolds.
INCHEON, SOUTH KOREA — 08/11/09 — Cisco today announced its intention to expand its relationship with Gale International by bringing together complementary skills, capabilities and solutions to create smart, sustainable cities of the future. The collaboration combines the Cisco®Smart+Connected Communitiesvision with Gale International’s experience as a smart-city builder to provide a connected and sustainable living and working experience to communities worldwide. Cisco shares a common vision with Gale International that in cities of the future urban services will be delivered more innovatively, and cities will be managed more efficiently using technology that enables newer models of managed and hosted services within public-private partnerships.
Highlights / Key Facts:
Executive Quotes:
“The vision for this new city is truly transformational, giving residents, businesses and government leaders within Songdo the opportunity to experience the city of the future — today. Our collaboration on Songdo IBD with Gale International is a living example of the globally replicable model we are building for Smart+Connected Communities. We are thrilled to be part of such a groundbreaking initiative, working closely with Gale International to develop new business models for managing and delivering urban services using the network as the platform for transforming cities and countries. We look forward to future visionary projects like this one, such as the efforts currently underway in Meixi Lake District in China.”
“We are globalizing the real estate industry by identifying and deploying integrated solutions in a unique replicable model. City-scale development must fit the needs of the visionary communities daring to undertake them. The city of Incheon is to be commended for their vision. More than a decade ago, they believed that Songdo IBD could deliver a better quality of life and deliver economic benefit to the people of Korea. We are excited about this vision and look forward to working closely with IFEZ, Cisco, and other partners to make Songdo IBD and IFEZ the successful model for sustainable cities of the future. Similarly, our next project, China’s Meixi Lake development, seeks to provide an unparalleled quality of life for its inhabitants. Gale International and Cisco, working with other global partners, such as UTC and 3M, intend to deliver sustainable, smart cities of the future that will allow those who live and work there to thrive for generations to come.”
“The Meixi Lake project is central to the success of the West Changsha Pioneer Zone. Our vision for the Meixi Lake District is to create a harmonious society that integrates innovative technology with environmental and sustainable design. The involvement of Gale International, a world-class city-scale developer, and Cisco, a leader in intelligent systems, will ensure that the Meixi Lake District will become a world-class city right here in Changsha, the heart of Hunan Province.”
John Chambers, Mayor Ahn Sang-soo, and Stan Gale
By Don Southerton, Songdo IBD CityTalk Editor and Chief Blogger
Korea media notes that Cisco Systems, the world’s No. 1 network equipment maker and the Songdo IBD have signed a MOU to develop the Cisco Global Center for Intelligent Urbanization (CGCIU). The U.S. network equipment maker will provide technologies for energy saving and urban management.
Cisco Chairman John Chambers pointed out that the Songdo IBD project would launch Cisco’s vision of advanced integrated urban management network technology, which goal is to improve the quality of living.
Gale International Chairman Stan Gale shared that Cisco’s decision to select Songdo IBD for the CGCIU world headquarters highlights Songdo IBD’s ability to attract leading global companies to South Korea, which in turn will spur growth and create jobs.