Cisco joins South Korean smart-city project

A new planned development being built in South Korea is being designed as a model to help the country turn its cities into environmentally sustainable communities that can also generate rapid economic growth and opportunities for citizens.

The first phase of the 1,500-acre Songdo International Business District (IBD,) which includes hotels, retail, residential towers, a convention center and a 100-acre park, opened in August 2009. With some 7,000 occupied households, the city is around 40 percent completed. Scheduled to be finished in 2017, Songdo IBD is expected to be home to 65,000 people, with around 250,000 expected to work and livein Songdo International City.

Songdo IBD is being developed by New Songdo International City Development LLC (NSIC), a joint-venture between US developer Gale International and Korean construction firm POSCO E&C, under the governance of the Incheon Free Economic Zone Authority.

Under two new agreements, Cisco has now come on board the project to deliver its Smart+Connected Community managed services to businesses and residents in Songdo IBD. The company will also integrate its products and technologies into new construction projects in the city, paving the way for Cisco to establish a global showcase for technologies and applications for smart cities.

Beginning this year, Cisco will help the city’s developers deploy its Smart+Connected Community Home Solutions with support for advanced home networking systems and video conferencing. With the technology, residents will be able to control lighting, air conditioning/heating systems, gas, curtains and all other home devices using touch-screen wall pads, mobile remote controllers and even smartphones, computers and tablet devices. The Cisco TelePresence unit will enable real-time video communication not just for families but for schools, banks and the government