Cisco teams with smart cities for clever tech

Cisco CEO John Chambers has been banging the gong on what tech companies should do to tackle climate change this week at the Connected Urban Development conference. And because he’s a man who likes to eat he’s own dog food (who doesn’t?), Cisco has been uniting with few cities around the world to come up with some efficient tech.

The cities in question are San Francisco, Amsterdam and Seoul, who’ve Cisco says all have mayors bang up for tackling green issues and have some tasty broadband networks.

Guess what they’ve been doing with them? Oh alright, Greenbang will tell you. Here’s the deets from Cisco:

• “The Connected Bus,” is a landmark prototype that was developed by Cisco and the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Authority (SFMTA) to demonstrate an innovative way to make public transportation more green. The hybrid bus has a mobile hot spot that allows citizens to work while they ride; a Global Positioning System gives commuters updated status of bus routes and connections; LED displays provide information on emissions saved through public transit; and an automated system reduces the environmental impact of the bus through better maintenance. If deployed broadly throughout transit systems, the Connected Bus can significantly reduce carbon emissions in cities around the world.

• “Personal Travel Assistant (PTA),” is a pioneering service being developed by Cisco with input from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Currently being considered by the city of Seoul for pilot testing, PTA improves the transit experience within urban environments by empowering citizens to make more informed decisions on day-to-day transportation options based on schedule, financial and environmental implications. Accessible from any Web-based interface such as a mobile phone, PTA is the first service of its kind that provides green route options, integrates with other communication needs such as calendaring, and enables city agencies to predict and manage evolving citizen transportation needs more effectively.

• “Smart Work Centers,” an approach developed by Cisco and embraced by the city of Amsterdam, enables local residents to work in remote stations without having to travel into the heart of the city. The Smart Work Center concept is based on a combination of technology and services that deliver a true connected neighborhood experience: the innovative use of convergent video-voice-data technology solutions; the availability of onsite services such as child care centers, dining and banking; open public and exposition spaces; and flexible desk seating and meeting rooms.