Cisco Chairman John Chambers on Friday met India Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Cisco, which recently announced $500 million investment in Germany for the country’s digital initiatives, offered $100 million investment program in India.
John Chambers, who recently stepped down as the CEO of Cisco, explained to the Prime Minister the elements of the company’s Digitization Acceleration Program.
Cisco’s Digitization Acceleration Program is aligned to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s initiatives including Digital India, Skill India, Make in India, Start-up India, Smart Cities and Cyber Security initiatives.
Prime Minister emphasized its benefits in areas such as long distance education. He said that use of digital technology has been useful in eliminating leakages in subsidy. He also discussed possibilities of cooperation in the area of cyber security.
Cisco competes with HPE, Dell, IBM, Oracle, Juniper Networks, among others, to bag big IT projects in India.
John Chambers, executive chairman, Cisco, said: “Digitization goes beyond connectivity. The impact of digitization is far-reaching, helping countries maintain global competitiveness, foster innovation and create jobs. Education and Internet are two equalizers in life.”
Cisco and $100 million
Cisco India will be making $100 million investment including $40 million to fund early-stage and growth-stage companies in the country and train 250,000 students in India by 2020.
Cisco will tie up with state governments on initiatives including the addition of 6 new innovation labs, 3 centers of expertise, funded university collaborations and skills investments.
Cisco has set a goal of creating a pipeline of 250,000 skilled students in India by 2020.
By investing $40 million, Cisco’s focus will be on technologies such as security, cloud, and the Internet of Things as well as digital plays in smart cities, financial services, healthcare, e-governance.
Cisco will launch 6 innovation labs, 3 centers of expertise and university collaborations, across select states in India.
Dinesh Malkani, president, Cisco India and SAARC, said: “India’s digital transformation will grow the economy faster, will provide employment and inclusion, will enable innovation opportunities; and help deliver affordable citizen services to become more competitive on the global stage.”
