Lavasa ties up with Cisco, Wipro for e-city

MUMBAI, INDIA: Lavasa Corporation, the realty arm of infrastructure major HCC, and Wipro signed on Wednesday definitive agreements for Cisco to participate in MyCity Technologies Ltd, a company set up by Lavasa and Wipro last year to provide information and communications technology services in the new development of Lavasa City, India's first complete e-city.

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The strategic collaboration between the three companies, to build a next-generation intelligent sustainable community, is based on a shared vision of sustainable urbanization, the Cisco Smart+Connected Communities initiative, and Wipro's ICT solutions and services, said a press release.

It said MyCity Technology will use the strengths of the three companies to help make Lavasa City the first complete e-city in India. By planning, implementing and managing ICT services across Lavasa City, MyCity Technology aims to make Lavasa City one of the most technologically advanced cities in the world.

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As part of the collaboration, Cisco will partner with Wipro for the supply of ICT products and architecture and will propose the technology vision, products, services and solutions based on its Smart+Connected Communities initiative and service-delivery platform to help make Lavasa City a smart and sustainable city of the future.

Wipro will provide its expertise in areas like city management services, e-governance, ICT infrastructure and value-added services, including proposing and implementing intelligent solutions for the home and digital lifestyles. Wipro will also design the detailed infrastructure for telecom services for governance, as well as solutions for the residents of Lavasa City and their visitors.

Wim Elfrink, chief globalisation officer and executive vice president, Cisco Services, said Cisco envisions a future where successful communities and cities will run on networked information enabling economic development, better city management and an improved quality of life for citizens.

“We are honoured to collaborate with Lavasa Corporation and Wipro to make Lavasa City economically, socially and environmentally sustainable. Cities and communities can be sustainable by embracing smart regulation and strategic public private partnerships with technology as an enabler,” he said.

Ajit Gulabchand, chairman, Lavasa Corp. Ltd, commenting on the new development, said, "MyCity Technology is yet another step towards making Lavasa City a truly planned and well-managed city. Together with Cisco and Wipro, we will use information and communications technology to provide smart governance and enhance the quality of life of residents.”

Anurag Mehrotra, vice president and head-client relationship group, Wipro, said, “As a strategic partner to Lavasa we embarked on this journey last year to combine cutting-edge technology with our global best practices in the ICT area to deliver innovative services to residents and businesses operating from Lavasa.”

He said the entry of Cisco, a world leader in networking technology and a key partner of Wipro for more than a decade, would help ensure that Lavasa gets the best in technology innovation backed by our expertise in architecting, implementing and managing networking technologies.

The three companies will bring together complementary skills, capabilities and solutions to help improve Lavasa City's economic development, environmental sustainability, and the quality of life for citizens.