The results generated from these smart cities have caught the attention of forward-thinking world leaders, who see Smart Countries (or country digitization) as the logical next step. Cisco Systems launched its Country Digital Acceleration (CDA) program to address these opportunities, partnering with countries to advance their national digital agendas.
Cisco has launched digitization efforts within 17 countries around the world. The common bond between each state is the desire to help grow gross domestic product (GDP), create new jobs, connect people, and increase opportunities for its citizens. For many emerging countries today, digitization is the single most effective way to jumpstart their economies and enable their citizens to expand commerce and access to the world market. Digitizing a nation is not trivial, and in my opinion, Cisco is the only company that has the vision, execution, partner network and political prowess to drive this strategy at a global level.
A global perspective to connecting nations
Interestingly, one of the early pioneers of the CDA program in France. From the top, France has a vision of connecting not just urban centers, but rural and government areas as well. As a result, France has become one of the fastest growing start-up ecosystems in the world. … France has also extended Internet connectivity to remote areas of the country, bringing commerce and innovation to traditionally underserved areas. With the help of Cisco, India is also transforming itself into a fully connected knowledge economy. Its Digital India program promises to connect 250,000 villages to the internet by 2019. Numerous other nations, including Israel, Germany, and UAE have launched similarly ambitious national strategies to accelerate their digital economies.
One of the reasons why Cisco’s CDA program is so successful is the company’s commitment to building long-term partnerships at the highest levels of academia, industry, and the public sector. Rest