Preparing for the future, Cisco is sizing up the world market for technology that is more efficient and less polluting.
On March 6, Cisco signed a memorandum of understanding with Metropolis, a consortium of 106 large cities mostly outside the United States, to help cities use technology that is more efficient and less polluting.
To move beyond it core products of routers and switches, Cisco sees such alliances as a key strategy to meet CEO John Chamber's 12-17 percent annual growth targets, according to an article in the San Jose Mercury News.
Cisco is betting big on "intelligent" city infrastructure including everything from improved power grids to "smart" buildings running on a single network. The city infrastructures would be heavily reliant on Internet Protocol technology.
Additionally, Cisco is working on technology to adjust lighting and air conditioning based on when employees arrive for work. For example, power systems for a particular office would be activated only after an employee badge is swiped upon entering the building.
In other news, Cisco on March 3 signed an agreement with NASA to develop a system to monitor carbon buildup around the world in near real time, according to The Register.
