What: The official groundbreaking for Cisco Systems' Ottawa Development Centre's expanded facility in Kanata, Ontario.

Who: Representatives at the groundbreaking included (in photo, left to right):

• Charles Eagan, Engineering Director, Public Carrier IP Systems, Cisco Systems
  
• Blair Colquhoun, Site Manager, Cisco Systems
  
• Gabor Solymar, Software Development Manager, VPN and Security Services, Cisco Systems
  
• Mayor Merle Nicholds, City of Kanata
  
• Norm Major, Engineering Director, Multiservice Switching, Cisco Systems
  
• Debbie Sheridan, Software Manager, Remote Access, Cisco Systems

Not pictured:

• Bill Swift, Engineering Director, Public Carrier IP Systems, Cisco Systems
• Yasser Gadallah, Manager, IOS Technologies, Cisco Systems

Why: "Cisco has had great success in the area - Ottawa is a fantastic region for our employees, with a great standard of living, and is richly populated with top high-tech talent," says Blair Colquhoun, facilities manager, Cisco Systems, Inc. "Cisco has leveraged the considerable high-tech talent pool of the Ottawa region to create a team of industry experts in a variety of communications fields."

When: The first building of the newly expanded site is due to open in December 2000. The entire expansion will comprise five buildings and approximately 2,400 employees working in the fields of remote access, multiservice switching, public carrier IP systems, IOS technologies and VPN and security solutions.

Where: The expansion site is located in Kanata's NorthTech Campus development, a state-of-the-art technology-oriented office park on prime real estate in the heart of Kanata.

For additional information:

• Gillian Hewitt
  Strategic/Ampersand Inc.
  (416) 961-5595 ext. 428
  Pager: 1-800-68-CISCO
  E-mail: ghewitt@cisco.com

Editor's note: High-resolution JPEG photo available upon request.