After four decades online, everyone is trying to imagine the road ahead. Here’s how Cisco, a leading pioneer from the beginning, is continuing to write its future.
In recent months, advances in artificial intelligence have made headlines around the world, with breakthroughs demonstrating remarkably human response capabilities. But early this year, one groundbreaking achievement went largely unnoticed: University College London’s Centre for Doctoral Training in AI-enabled Healthcare produced its first graduate.
The health care program, which combines studies in AI, computational science, and biomedical research, explores how deep learning can help spot life-threatening diseases like cancer in their early stages, create more efficient hospitals, develop avatars to offer therapy, and more. It’s all part of UCL’s commitment not only to producing innovative AI, but also to researching how advanced technology can be used ethically to improve humanity. It’s a key reason UCL was the first university in the UK to become a Cisco AI Global Centre for Excellence, a partnership that helps fund research and sustainable technologies.
“Our partnership with Cisco supports our vision for AI to make a positive impact and be a force for good in the world,” stated David Barber, a professor of machine learning and director of the UCL Centre for Artificial Intelligence. “[This] collaboration is the next step in UCL’s long-standing relationship with Cisco, which dates back to the beginnings of the Internet.”
This January, the Internet turned 40, and it’s evolving like never before. “That’s a really opportune time for us to think about the impact it’s had—and where it’s headed,” says Chintan Patel, chief technology officer of Cisco UK and Ireland.
In addition to AI, research in fields like quantum computing, holographic telepresence, and the metaverse are creating new possibilities for human connection. Yet just as important as technological innovation for the next phase of the Internet is sustainability and inclusivity. That’s why Cisco, a tech company that helped build the Internet—and a corporation that has pledged to become net-zero by 2040—is rethinking how it goes about innovating for the future. The answer, in large part, is by helping to see the Internet through the coming decades by supporting it with broad overlapping principles: sustainable innovation, universal access to the Internet, and cybersecurity for all.
“The Internet is now seen as the world’s fourth utility,” says Patel. “We used to log on, and now we’re always on. As a company that helps support 80 percent of global Internet traffic, we have a responsibility to make sure it’s more secure, accessible, and affordable for everyone. We’re about to enter an exciting new phase of what the Internet can do for the world.”
Creating Sustainable Innovations in the Digital World and Beyond
As new innovations transform the digital world, AI and other advanced technologies are helping advance sustainability in the analog world too.
Take buildings, for example.
Decreasing emissions in the built environment—particularly for corporations with global footprints—is a challenge that requires improving efficiencies throughout entire supply chains. According to an industry nonprofit, about 40 percent of the world’s carbon-dioxide emissions from fossil fuels come from the built environment. Building operations (heating, cooling, lighting) account for 27 percent, while construction embodies the rest. “Without widespread existing building decarbonization across the globe,” the nonprofit states, “we will not achieve the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C target.”
To create more sustainable infrastructure, Energybox offers an Internet of Things (IoT) network that monitors energy use across entire companies. From walk-in coolers to retail-store lighting, its platform gathers data from hundreds of thousands of connected devices and shares that information in an easily scannable Cisco IoT Operations Dashboard. Powered by Cisco hardware and software, the platform helps companies visualize their energy use and then reduce it—along with their operating costs. It’s all part of the company’s commitment to innovations that also address environmental concerns.
“The moment that you are able to visualize your energy usage is the moment that you can control your energy usage,” states Tony Carrella, president and cofounder of Energybox. “And for the scale, flexibility and security needed to deliver this solution, we rely on Cisco.”
Fostering Equality through Universal Internet Access
Among the many challenges facing the world today, access to the Internet remains a critical one, in large part because it impacts future opportunities for individuals and countries. Today, 2.7 billion people around the world don’t have access to the Internet, according to the United Nations, leading to “a connectivity Grand Canyon.” Even for people living in areas with broadband coverage, 43 percent don’t have mobiles Internet. This gap is critical, and it’s one that Cisco is helping to bridge with its Country Digital Acceleration program.
Pairing Cisco team members with government leaders, the CDA builds sustainable, secure, and inclusive communities powered by ethical technology solutions. So far the CDA has completed over 1,400 projects in 48 countries. In February, as part of its Cisco Networking Academy, the company also announced a new initiative—to train ten million people in digital and cyber skills over the next decade across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.
In 2022, for instance, the Cisco Networking Academy partnered with Glasgow Caledonian University and Scottish Women in Technology to offer free cybersecurity education for women of all educational backgrounds, with the goal of providing new career opportunities. It offers flexible online classes and access to role models, mentoring, and support—all part of an effort to create a more inclusive STEM field moving forward.
“The Internet can be a great leveler, and education plays a big part—so we’re making sure it’s inclusive.” Patel says. “It’s hugely important for Cisco to make sure we get more diversity and women into our tech skills programs.”
Ensuring Cybersecurity for Everyone
The growing number of people and devices online, along with new tech innovations, is creating more opportunities for bad actors, in the form of attack points and vulnerabilities.
“Every month, we prevent more than 18 billion malware attempts to exploit devices in just one of our cloud services,” Patel says. “Bad actors will continue to find ways to take advantage of the vulnerable, so it’s important for us to make sure every new connection is a secure one.”
To help combat these growing threats, Cisco Talos, one of the largest commercial threat-intelligence teams in the world, works to keep ahead of malicious hackers and educate the next generation of cybersecurity experts. Comprising researchers, analysts, and engineers, Cisco Talos is protecting a wide range of customers around the globe, including the nation of Ukraine. Since the war there began, Cisco Talos has partnered with other intelligence teams to safeguard the networks of critical organizations, including government agencies and banks.
“We’ve been helping protect the digital infrastructure in Ukraine, both on the front lines and on the back end,” Patel says. “We do the same for our business customers. To help them consolidate security vendors, for instance, we created SecureX, a dashboard that provides a lens on what’s happening across their organization, making intelligence gathering simpler and more intuitive with machine learning.”
Creating Purpose to Power an Inclusive Future
In 1984, Cisco was founded by two students at Stanford University who created a network to communicate between campus buildings. Now, as the Internet turns 40, the company is poised to help write its next chapter. From reducing plastics in products and packaging, to educating future cybersecurity experts, to eliminating the need for business travel with Webex Hologram technology, the company is committed to improving the technologies it builds along with the communities it serves.
In its 2022 Cisco Purpose Report, for example, the company outlines clear goals for achieving net-zero emissions by 2040 and other ESG milestones—including that renewable energy sources accounted for 89 percent of energy use in fiscal year 2022.
“If you think of what’s happened in computing in the past forty years, just imagine what can happen in the next forty,” Patel says. “There’s a hugely exciting role for Cisco to play—and we can’t wait to see what the world builds on top.”
To learn more about how Cisco is helping tackle technological and societal challenges around the world read the 2022 Cisco Purpose Report.
This story was produced by WIRED Brand Lab for Cisco.
