NEW YORK - September 24, 2009 - Building on the success of its Connected Urban Development (CUD) initiative, Cisco today announced that it will extend its reach to additional cities and business partners around the world to explore how information and communications technology (ICT) can help address urban climate change and energy challenges. Cisco and the CUD partner cities have also engaged The Climate Group to launch the CUD Alliance, which aims to create a sustainable program to deliver integrated, ICT-enabled urban climate-change solutions in areas such as connected buildings, transportation, and energy management. The announcement was made in conjunction with the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) annual meeting.

Facts/Highlights:

The Climate Group and Cisco have established the CUD Alliance to extend the reach of the CUD community to additional public- and private-sector partners from around the world.

• The CUD Alliance will build on the success of CUD, The Climate Group's city focus and the recommendations of the SMART2020 report, to create a forum for the development of globally relevant demonstration programs. The programs will focus on delivering low-carbon solutions through systems integration, policy and financing.
• The CUD Alliance will concentrate on three main areas: developing new partnerships to implement pilot projects at the city level; creating a platform to encourage common ICT standards for low-carbon urban solutions; and scaling existing projects and resources across a growing number of world cities to reduce carbon emissions.

Cisco will expand its work with cities around the world through its CUD program.

• Cisco has contributed $15 million to CUD over the past three years as part of its commitment to the CGI. Cisco will extend the program by continuing the development of pilot ICT projects that can be replicated and scaled. 
• Cisco's Internet Business Solutions Group (IBSG) has created pilot projects with seven CUD cities: Amsterdam, the Netherlands; San Francisco, California; Seoul, South Korea; Birmingham, England; Hamburg, Germany; Lisbon, Portugal; and Madrid, Spain.
• Cisco will maintain its relationships with these cities and expand its engagement to other cities, particularly those in developing nations and the Eastern Hemisphere.
• These projects may serve as incubators for the energy and environmental aspects of Cisco's Smart+Connected Communities initiative, which addresses the growing need for sustainable energy by providing a network-enabled blueprint for successful smart cities of the future.

The CUD program has enabled seven unique, innovative pilots over the last three years.

• Smart Transportation Pricing (STP): Currently being run as a technical pilot in Seoul, STP encompasses a set of technology-based pricing reforms to encourage more efficient travel behavior and demand management solutions.
• Urban EcoMap: A pilot codeveloped with the City and County of San Francisco, Urban EcoMap provides cities with relevant data regarding primary greenhouse gas contributors—transportation, waste, and energy—to help city residents take action to reduce their emissions. Forthcoming development of the Amsterdam Urban EcoMap will scale the application globally.
• Personal Travel Assistant (PTA): PTA is a Web-based service that allows residents in Seoul and Amsterdam to make on-the-go travel decisions based on time, cost, and carbon impact. It offers "virtual assistant" features that provide transit guidance based on user preferences via any Web-enabled device, from any location.
• Smart UrbanEnergy for Schools: A partnership involving Cisco, the city of Lisbon, and the Portuguese Ministry of Education, this project aims to showcase how technology can improve global energy efficiency in both the built environment and energy networks. Energy savings of 33.4 percent were achieved during the first few months of the pilot.
• UrbanEnergy Management: This pilot with the city of Madrid explores how energy is generated, managed, and consumed. A 33-apartment building is being outfitted with bioclimatic design innovations that can deliver estimated energy savings of 75 to 85 percent.
• Smart Work Centers (SWCs): Currently being pilot-tested in Almere and Amsterdam, SWCs comprise a regional network of neighborhood professional work and community centers supporting travel virtualization and enabling mobile working practices. Integrating Cisco TelePresence^TM with virtual office solutions, SWCs offer a professional work environment near residential areas to lower energy use and carbon emissions. Thus far, users have saved an average of 66 minutes of commute time per day.
• The Connected Bus: In the City and County of San Francisco, The Connected Bus pilot is a landmark public transportation innovation aimed at enabling people, traffic, and public transit vehicles to flow more efficiently.

Supporting Quotes:

• John Chambers, chairman and CEO, Cisco

"With the urbanization of cities around the world, and urban areas contributing at least 80 percent of global carbon emission, cities present a tremendous opportunity to address climate change and environmental issues. The Connected Urban Development global community has successfully collaborated to demonstrate how ICT solutions can manage environmental challenges. Cisco is committed to furthering this progress and encourages both public- and private-sector partners to join us in this effort."

• Steve Howard, CEO, The Climate Group

"Deploying smart, low-carbon technologies within world cities is central to unlocking energy efficiency at scale and transforming to a cleaner, greener, and more prosperous society and economy.  The new CUD Alliance will align a global armory of innovators, policymakers, financiers and businesses necessary to pilot and scale carbon-resilient systems, policies and practices for millions of citizens."

Supporting Resources:

• To view the webcast of Cisco Chairman and CEO John Chambers speaking about the success of CUD at the Clinton Global Initiative: http://www.clintonglobalinitiative.org/
• For more information on The Climate Group: www.theclimategroup.org
• For more information on CUD and its pilot programs: www.connectedurbandevelopment.org
• Cisco Ecolibrium blog: http://blogs.cisco.com/green
• SMART 2020: Enabling the Low-Carbon Economy in the Information Age, The Climate Group and GeSI, 2008: http://www.smart2020.org

Tags / Keywords:

Cisco, Internet Business Solutions Group, IBSG, Urban EcoMap, Personal Travel Assistant, PTA, Smart Work Center, SWC, CUD, Connected Urban Development, Connected Bus, CUD Alliance, Clinton Global Initiative, Sustainability, Environment, The Climate Group

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