Cisco Opens Latest Co-Innovation Center in Barcelona
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Set in one of the most creative, smart, and attractive cities, we launched the official opening this evening of Cisco’s Barcelona Co-Innovation Center, the latest addition to our global network of 12 Co-Innovation centers worldwide. Like all our centers, this one will serve as a local hive of innovative activity for open, collaboration to co-develop digital solutions with customers and partners.
Tonight, building on Cisco’s legacy of smart-city technology projects in Barcelona, we were delighted to welcome more than 150 customers and partners in the region, demonstrating breakthroughs from other centers. Many who attended will join us over the long term to identify, prioritize, and co-develop new technologies, solutions, and business models.
Our ultimate aim here—as in all our Co-innovation centers—is to accelerate business growth and social good in the digital era together with our ecosystem.
From Cisco, L to R: Xavier Azemar, Lead for Barcelona Co-Innovation Center; Maciej Kranz, VP, Strategic Innovation; Xavier Massa, Director, Public Sector-Spain; Antonio Conde, Director, Digital Transformation-Spain
I am also pleased to share that the Barcelona Co-Innovation Center will be headed by Xavier Azemar, a long-time Cisco technical and business leader with career experience throughout the EMEAR region.
As Xavier stated, “Developing innovative solutions and opening new markets is crucial for maintaining Spain’s digitization competitive edge. Cisco Barcelona Co-Innovation Center brings together partners of all sizes, shapes, and forms to push forward game-changing ideas, ignite disruptive innovation, and create more value for everyone. It will be a key pillar to promote economic development and social well-being through innovative solutions for many industries, such as education, healthcare, finance, transport, or energy management efficiency.”
The Center will operate as part of the wider Cisco Co-Innovation network, which includes locations in Berlin, Paris, London, Manchester, Istanbul, Dubai, Milan, Rio de Janeiro, Toronto, Tokyo, Sydney-Perth. Driven by Cisco’s Chief Technology and Architecture Office, digital solutions developed locally can be scaled globally across a wide range of applications. The center will also serve as a launch pad in Spain to:
- Educate, mentor, and develop talent in Spain around innovation best practices, ecosystem
- partnerships, and STEM disciplines.
- Foster local and global innovation by investing and partnering with government, start-ups, entrepreneurs, universities, and researchers
- Provide physical and virtual laboratories for proof-of-concept development, experimentation, and testing on Cisco’s open digital platform
- Provide customer innovation rooms equipped with technology tools to co-create and prototype new solutions
- Provide access to a global network to scale ideas, share success stories, best practices, and market expertise
- Demonstrate cutting-edge technology solutions and share Cisco’s insights.
The Barcelona Co-Innovation Center will also connect promising startups and portfolio companies with Cisco DevNet, a platform with more than 500,000 developers that allows network engineers and developers to learn and code, connect with other engineers and test the applications they are building in different areas such as smart cities, manufacturing, retail, utilities, or cyber-security.
Innovation, especially when done together with a world-class ecosystem, really has no boundaries – either of geography or imagination. I know amazing solutions for a future of goodness for everyone will begin emerging soon from the Co-Innovation Center in Barcelona.
This article originally appeared in Cisco Blogs on June 28, 2019
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What Alex Can Do For You
Developed and led AI and Innovation strategy for multiple Fortune 100 companies, driving double-digit revenue growth.
Over 20 years of hands-on experience driving transformative business and technology solutions for global brands like Dell, Amgen, IBM, Pfizer, and Cisco.
Recognized by Forbes as “One of the World’s Top Experts on Innovation” and named a “Top AI Keynote Speaker to Watch.”
Frequent contributor to Forbes, Entrepreneur, and Fast Company, sharing actionable insights on AI strategy, the future of work, and innovation.
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Alex’s roster of past clients, keynote engagements, and employers reads like a Wikipedia entry of the world’s most innovative, respected organizations. Disney, Coca Cola, ISO, AWS, Google, LEGO, CAT, IBM, Cisco, Dell, and dozens of other organizations have benefited from Alex’s keynotes, workshops, and strategic advisory services. As the former Managing Director of Innovation Strategy at Cisco, leader of global Innovation Centers and Smart City programs in 7 countries, and creator of innovation tracks for 3 Olympics, Alex’s real-world experience magnifies his impact upon any organization he partners with. Additionally, Alex has worked hands-on with governments, industry groups,startups and scaleups, plus large academic institutions, like the University of Delaware and The University of California, impacting 300,000+ students and thousands of faculty.
What topics does Alex Goryachev cover in keynotes and workshops?
While every keynote or workshop is customized to an event or audience, Alex is often requested by clients to bring a fresh perspective and real-world expertise on topics, including: AI’s impact on work and education Innovation in the age of AI Building buy-in and reducing hesitancy towards AI Policy and ethics related to AI C-Suite and leadership insights on AI Employee engagement in innovation The impact of AI on society Use cases, solutions, and strategies for AI and innovation Innovation culture and proven frameworks Reskilling and workforce preparedness Education and academia policy Government AI policy and legislation For additional topic ideas and recommendations for your event, get in touch.
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