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Cisco Underlines Converged Vision With Mediator Launch
Published Jul 5, 2009
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Cisco Systems has launched the Network Building Mediator, which it believes is a major step on the way to an entirely converged future with fully networked smart cities.
As part of the what the firm is calling its Smart+Connected Communities vision, it has unveiled the Mediator, which provides the intelligence to interconnect and enable building systems including heating, ventilation, lighting, cooling and renewables over the IP network to build smart and energy efficient buildings.
One of the key benefits to doing this is that it provides building operators with a clear and easy way of managing energy usage to ensure maximum efficiency.
Wim Elfrink, chief globalisation officer and executive vice president at Cisco Services, says the demand for connected environments is only going to increase in the next three to five years as more people continue to migrate to urban centres.
“Cities of the future, and many innovative cities now, are addressing the issues and opportunities of this new world by thinking about the network as the platform for economic development, better city management and an improved quality of life for citizens,” explained Elfrink.
“Everything connected to the network in these Smart+Connected communities can be greener,” he added.
Cisco suggests one of the primary motivating factors for the creation of the Mediator is to allow buildings that are currently not converged to get up to speed by creating communication between utility systems and IT systems.
Sandeep Vij, vice president and general manager at Cisco’s Globalisation Centre East in Bangalore, says that the Mediator fulfills an important role in future proofing facilities and ensuring that present and coming energy compliance needs can be met with ease.
Talking about the Mediator, Vij said:
“It can help with future proofing as the technology is scalable, it is flexible, it allows the user to add multiple protocols, it has got the capabilities to communicate Northwards, as well as Southwards, and it can talk to sub systems. It provides a very flexible platform for scalability and it provides a scalable platform for integrators to offer various technologies”.
Although Vij was unable to offer a clear indication of the cost of implementing the Mediator, saying that it depends on the size of the project, he did suggest that the end user could expect to see a ROI soon after implementation and following the energy savings that a more efficient utilities system should bring.
As the Mediator has just entered the market the vendor says that it does not have any project wins to report in the Middle East, but says that it is very confident that most if not all of the many large developments and smart infrastructure projects that it is involved in across the region, have expressed an interest in the solution.
Posted by
VMD - [Virtual Marketing Department]
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