Cisco to partner with Holyoke
Date: 2/17/2010
Feb. 17, 2010.By G. Michael Dobbs
Managing Editor
HOLYOKE -- Imagine a communication system in a home that combines a computer with an interactive television. That is what might be happening in Holyoke, potentially the first advantage of being the host city of the new high-speed computing center.
On Wednesday, speaking via teleconference from Bangalore, India, Cisco Service's Chief Globalisation Officer and Executive Vice President Wim Elfrink announced the international computing company has selected Holyoke as the first American city to have a pilot program in its "Smart+Connected Communities" initiative.
Elfrink said the company's involvement in developing the high-speed computing center was one of the reasons Holyoke was selected for this pilot.
Mayor Elaine Pluta and Elfrink signed a memorandum of understanding on Wednesday that began a period in which the nature of the pilot program will be determined.
Elfrink said the company is creating the "neighborhood of the future" with similar projects in India, Spain and Korea.
Elfrink said that once the pilot program is developed, he believes implementation would take within six to 12 months.
"That's our experience," he said.
The movement to seek green solutions as well as the growing use of on-line social networks such as Facebook and Twitter by older people are factors that encourage projects such as the ones undertaken by Cisco, Elfrink explained.
Pluta and Kathy Anderson, the city's head of economic development, had a long list of issues a pilot program could tackle including job creation, workforce training, urban blight, improved safety and promoting green technologies.
Anderson said this pilot comes at a time when Holyoke has been undertaking planning for its future. She said the involvement with Cisco would push the planning to include provisions for the city 20 to 30 years in the future.
To illustrate how a potential system could work, Elfrink said telecommunications devices in homes of elders could make accessing health services easier and without the use of fossil fuels. A person with a question or concern could have a conversation with a nurse or doctor that would allow the health professional to see as well as speak to the elder.
Other applications could be in the city's schools, such as for after-school programs, Anderson said.
One of Holyoke's advantages is having a fiber optic network already in place around the city, James Lavelle, manager of Holyoke Gas & Electric explained.
The funding discussion for what kind of project Cisco will start in the city is not being addressed at the current time. Elfrink said presently at the company's Korean project Cisco is learning what people are willing to pay for services there.
Anderson said the goal is to "figure out a plan and then figure out how to pay for it."
Anderson said the city started working with Cisco last September. With Cisco's involvement in the high-speed computing center, company representatives have been coming to Holyoke and speaking with city officials as well as people in the private sector.
Elfrink said the pilot project would pose the question, "How can we dream a little more?"
