News Release

Government of Abu Dhabi and Cisco Collaborate to Develop World-Class Connected Emirate

Government of Abu Dhabi and Cisco Reinforce Commitment to Transform Abu Dhabi to a Sustainable Knowledge Based Society
cisco_building_corporate_002-jpg-1889882-1-0
Jun 27, 2010

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates, June 27, 2010 - Cisco and Abu Dhabi Systems and Information Centre (ADSIC), the information and communications technology (ICT) arm of Abu Dhabi Government, today announced that they have entered into a frame agreement to help transform Abu Dhabi into a sustainable knowledge based connected Emirate. This agreement enables Abu Dhabi Government to benefit from Cisco's leading ICT experience to support the modernization initiatives of key government sectors, including but not limited to the upgrading of the social, education, and healthcare sectors network infrastructures, helping to empower the national economy through ICT.

Cisco and ADSIC are aiming, through this agreement, to drive Abu Dhabi's competitiveness, accelerate workers' productivity and help governmental entities, businesses, and citizens build a better future through the intelligent application of ICT, enabling the Abu Dhabi Government to use advanced network infrastructure solutions to deliver world class quality services. This collaboration also delivers on Cisco's vision whose objective is to connect the nation by utilizing ICT to drive sustainable socioeconomic progress, to secure affordable broadband networking, to facilitate instant information access for businesses, and to enable world-class citizen services with better access to healthcare, education, and social services.

Highlights / Key Facts:

  • The agreement was signed by His Excellency Rashed Lahej Al-Mansoori, director general, for ADSIC. Wayne Hull, director and general manager, Cisco UAE represented Cisco during the ceremony which took place on Thursday 17th of June 2010 at ADSIC offices in Abu Dhabi. His Excellency Rashed Lahej Al-Mansoori recently met with John Chambers, Cisco chairman and CEO, to discuss strategic initiatives to enhance socio-economic development, contribute to the human capital development and enhance citizen services in education, healthcare, and broadband connectivity in the Emirate through ICT. Moreover, this agreement illustrates Abu Dhabi Government commitment to the development of strategic relations with the private sector.
  • As a core part of this agreement, Cisco hopes to contribute to ADSIC's e-Literacy program by establishing a Cisco Networking Academy®, in Abu Dhabi.  Cisco will work towards adding ADSIC as a local training academy to contribute to developing Abu Dhabi citizens' career and economic opportunities. This initiative will play a key role in helping to address the shortfall of local technology talent in the Emirate. Cisco supports 60 networking academies throughout the UAE, which develop an educated pool of local talent to build and manage sustained networks in the future. The program has already graduated nearly 1,000 students in the UAE.
  • To further develop human capital in Abu Dhabi, Cisco and ADSIC will explore utilizing the Cisco Entrepreneur Institute to support Abu Dhabi Government initiatives for resource development to harness the power of entrepreneurship for economic and social prosperity across the UAE. This will help entrepreneurs from small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) improve their use of ICT to enhance business acumen. 
  • Knowing how important network performance would be to the ongoing success of this technology implementation, Abu Dhabi Government will utilize Cisco's SMARTnet®  Service. SMARTnet gives Abu Dhabi government entities around-the-clock access to a team of highly skilled Cisco engineers, online technical resources, operating system upgrades, and advanced hardware replacement to help keep its network running optimally.
  • Cisco's system engineers will offer to conduct technology reviews to ensure that the technology deployment remains in line with industry standards. This is in addition to focused business and technical sessions that will assist Abu Dhabi government entities in adopting the e-learning concept. Cisco will also provide Abu Dhabi Government IT staff and students access to its technical lab facility for product demonstration, software testing, and proof of concept designs.
  • Cisco will also offer to provide Abu Dhabi government entities consultancy services on the design and specifications for network infrastructure, network security, telecommunications, collaboration, rich-media video and conferencing, and other related subjects for all ADSIC and Abu Dhabi Government Entities projects.
  • Cisco has three offices in the UAE and more than 400 employees in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

Executive Quotes:

  • HE Rashed Lahej Al Mansoori, director general, ADSIC

    • "ICT is one of the main factors for socio-economic growth, which was also clearly stressed by the Abu Dhabi 2030 Economic Vision. Today's strategic partnership with Cisco reinforces our commitment to transform Abu Dhabi into a sustainable knowledge-based society.  IT can be considered as a key enabler to allow us to reach the target set by our government to make Abu Dhabi one of the best five governments in the world. Information technology has proven its important role also in the face of current international challenges on the financial, economic, social and environmental levels."

  • Wayne Hull, director and general manager, Cisco, UAE

    • "Cisco's collaboration with the Abu Dhabi Government and ADSIC represents a major step forward for Cisco's vision to play a major role in connecting the nation. Our association clearly demonstrates the Government's confidence in Cisco as a leader and trusted business partner in the ICT industry in the region. Technology and the network as a platform play a fundamental role in continuously improving productivity and competitiveness, leading to sustainable economic success and increasing standards of living."

Additional Resources:

Links /URL's:

About ADSIC

The Abu Dhabi Systems & Information Centre (ADSIC) was created as a Committee in October 2005 by Executive Council Decree No. 33, issued by HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces and Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council, and established as Centre in 2008 by Law No. 18. ADSIC's role is to develop, drive and support various initiatives within the Government to transform government services in the Emirate. A key objective of this transformation is to establish a modern, efficient and citizen-centric e-Government platform to match the best in the world.

The Abu Dhabi Systems and Information Committee was overseen by a Steering Committee headed by HE Mr. Rashed Lahej Al Mansoori, and supported by two Committee members: Waleed Al Mukarrab Al Muhairi and HE Jumaa Mubarak Al Junaibi.

Related Content

Cisco Reports Second Quarter Earnings
Earnings
Cisco Reports Second Quarter Earnings
Cisco reported second quarter revenue of $12.8 billion, net income on a generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) basis of $2.6 billion or $0.65 per share, and non-GAAP net income of $3.5 billion or $0.87 per share.
Cisco Announces Intent to Acquire Isovalent
Acquisitions
Cisco Announces Intent to Acquire Isovalent
The acquisition of Isovalent will build on Cisco’s commitment to its Cisco Security Cloud vision, an AI-driven, cloud delivered, integrated security platform for organizations of any shape and size.