CHENGDU, China, October 20, 2009 - At the 2009 Western China International Economy & Trade Fair in Chengdu, Cisco today announced a strategic collaboration with the Chengdu municipal government under a memorandum of understanding (MoU). The collaboration aims to stimulate local innovation, enhance competitiveness and advance economic, social, and environmental sustainability in Chengdu.

Today's announcement carries forward activities outlined under a separate MoU reached with Sichuan province in June this year, applying Cisco® technologies and best practices to build an information network platform in order to support the development of a modern logistics industry in this province. The collaboration with Sichuan also aims to accelerate the development of new business models for Smart+Connected Communities and build sustainable modern cities in Sichuan.

Under the MoU with Chengdu, Cisco intends to establish Tianfu Smart+Connected City project and increase collaboration with local educational institutions.

The Tianfu Smart+Connected City pilot project will be launched by Cisco together with Chengdu in the city's High-Tech Zone, as part of a joint push to develop smart city management and smart public and social services, as well as to support energy conservation and emissions reduction.

Cisco will also cooperate closely with educational and research institutions in Sichuan to expand its research and development investments. As part of a sponsorship and research agreement with the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Cisco aims to establish a joint green research lab in Chengdu's High-Tech Zone.

"The collaboration with Chengdu is a milestone for Cisco's innovation and sustainability strategy in China," said Thomas Lam, vice chairman and president, Cisco China, "The cooperation marks a significant step in accelerating local innovation, as well as another move forward in implementing the Smart+Connected Communities initiative in China."

The concept of Smart+Connected Communities was launched by Cisco in July 2009, addressing the growing need for sustainable energy to meet the demand of increasingly urbanized populations by providing a network-enabled blueprint for successful smart cities of the future that run on networked information. The solution builds on Cisco's networked sustainability platform to further use the network to increase energy efficiency, create new tools for "energy-aware" city management, and enable economic opportunity and quality of life gains for citizens.