Cisco to establish IoE centre in Australia

Cisco has announced a pair of investments in Australia focused on launching an Internet of Everything (IoE) innovation centre in the nation, as well as teaching STEM skills to Australia’s youth.

The company’s new Cisco IoE Innovation centre is scheduled to open this year. It will span locations including Sirca in Sydney and Curtin University in Perth. Sirca provides data and tools to support financial research and innovation by its 40 Australia and New Zealand member universities.

Cisco plans to spend US$15 million ($19.3 million) over five years to establish the facility, which will be one of eight Cisco IoE centres worldwide.

Once operational, Cisco experts, industry partners and ecosystem start-ups will use the centre to develop and prototype IoE proofs of concept, features and functionalities.

The centre will also include space to demonstrate IoE in action and areas for customers, start-ups, researchers and other interested partners to brainstorm new ideas and technologies.

IoE is an extension of the Internet of Things covering people, processes and data as well as objects.

Cisco research suggests that Australia is one of the countries best placed to take advantage of the global revenue opportunity afforded by the IoE, due to the nation’s proximity to Asia, its well-trained engineers and its innovation capacity.

“Australia is a sophisticated market with a high level of innovation and an early adopter of new technology,” Cisco SVP of APAC and Japan Irving Tan said.

“Australia is already highly regarded globally for its resources and agriculture sectors and is well placed to serve the rapidly growing Asian markets, and the Australian government has prioritised these sectors accordingly.”

The vendor predicts that the IoE has the potential to contribute more than US$74 billion to the Australian economy over the next 10 years. Cisco expects the global market value of the IoE to be around US$19 trillion.

Cisco has separately revealed a five-year program aimed at teaching STEM skills to over 100,000 Australian school and tertiary students.

The company’s new AUSTEM 2020 program marks part of Cisco Australia’s efforts to tackle the STEM skills shortage and help foster an innovation economy.

As part of the program, Cisco will invest an estimated $21 million in a five-year program to train around 100,000 students via partnerships with non-profit higher education providers and schools.

Cisco will also offer a program to help connect 5000 students to STEM careers by 2020, as well as a mentoring program that will see 20% of Cisco Australia staff providing 20 hours of mentoring to students.

In addition, Cisco will be offering opportunities tailored to young women, such as the Cisco Women Rock-IT program, which will see 1000 Australian girls per year participating in quarterly webinars to learn about how IT skills can open up interesting careers.

Cisco Australia has been operating its Networking Academy program in Australia since 1998. During this time, the company has invested around $50 million in the program, which has trained some 130,000 students in ICT skills. The program is supported by collaborations with more than 120 higher education facilities.

“The Australian economy is in transition, and there has never been a more important time to invest in the programs that will equip students with the skills they need to secure the jobs of the future,” Cisco VP for Australia and New Zealand Ken Boal said.

Image courtesy of Leonardo Rizzi under CC