Joe Deklic, VP strategic investments, Cisco Canada
Cisco has launched a frontal attack on the academic community in a benign bid to bolster R&D in important Canadian market segments. This past month, the Canadian division of the networking giant announced relationships with the University of Waterloo for Smart Grid research, the University of Saskatchewan for the development of mining solutions and with the University of Regina for the advancement of e-governance solutions to drive collaboration, productivity and efficiency in the public sector.
In each case, Cisco has made a significant financial contribution to support establishment of the institutional underpinnings for ongoing research. In Saskatchewan, for example, the company will provide $2 million over 10 years to establish a Research Chair in Mining Solutions focused on projects related to four research agendas: mining and processing technologies; environment, safety management and technology; exploration, social license and policy research; and transformation and innovation. Cisco has also made an equivalent investment in Regina for a Research Chair in e-Governance located within the Johnson-Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy at the university to investigate the potential for use of technologies such as video, information sharing and online collaboration to enhance citizen engagement, improve client satisfaction, lower operating costs and provide faster services. At Waterloo, Cisco has contributed $1 million over five years for a new Cisco Research Chair in Smart Grid, in addition to establishing the Cisco Incubation Centre, located in the university’s David Johnston Research + Technology Park, which will focus on supporting local start-ups and students with Cisco technology to enable global collaboration, and by providing access to Cisco expertise and global partner ecosystem.
