City Services Delivered Over Mobile Cloud Infrastructure

Busan Metropolitan City launched a center to host a variety of services for its citizens. Operating like an app store for developers, the Busan Mobile Application Development Center (BMAC), marks the first phase of their deployment of Smart+Connected Community (S+CC) services -- in collaboration with Cisco and a local service provider, Korea Telecom (KT).

The plan is part of the Busan Green u-City (ubiquitous city) blueprint, which is in line with the national agenda to support environmentally sustainable economic growth in the country.

Busan, a bustling city of approximately 3.6 million residents, is located on the southeastern tip of the Korean peninsula. The second-largest city in South Korea, Busan occupies about 300 square miles (766 square kilometers), 8 percent of the entire Korean peninsula. Busan also has the country's largest container-handling port (fifth largest in the world) -- thanks to its accessibility from the Pacific Ocean, deep harbor and gentle tides.

Cisco Korea and Cisco's Internet Business Solutions Group (IBSG) contributed to this blueprint, which includes the rollout of S+CC services such as urban mobility, distance learning, energy management, and safety and security by 2014.

The aim is to transform the way of life for Busan citizens, improve city management, and generate new economic growth in a sustainable environment.

"Busan is an advanced city and among the first to adopt the u-City concept in Korea. Because of its ICT infrastructure, Busan has decided to move faster toward becoming a green u-City. We are pleased to be able to collaborate with Cisco due to its rich experience in a variety of smart city projects," said Hur Nam Sik, mayor of Busan.

Cisco Smart+Connected Communities in Action

BMAC is phase 1 of Busan's Green u-City blueprint. The center will be based on a platform-as-a-service (PaaS) approach, in collaboration with KT and Cisco, for application developers to test and host city services.

Phase 2 will see the rollout of software-as-a-service (SaaS) managed cloud services, delivered by KT and powered by Cisco, such as billing automation, content management and document management by 2012.

Phase 3, planned for 2014, will see these services widely available to all citizens.

BMAC is built on a platform powered by the Cisco Unified Computing System, the Cisco 4500 backbone and SAN switches.

Busan expects the BMAC to act as a catalyst for app developers to make use of public data provided by Busan Metropolitan Government, which will allow them to develop innovative applications that will appeal to the general public and help improve the quality of life.

By providing a shared services development platform and creating an ecosystem for software developers, Busan expects to see new job opportunities in knowledge industries. Busan also plans to have these developers lead phase 2 of its blueprint, the delivery of S+CC cloud services.

Borderless IT Infrastructure for Competitive Advantage

Cisco commissioned a study of present-day challenges that companies face as they strive to address employee and business needs amid increasing mobility capabilities, security risks, and technologies that can deliver applications and information more ubiquitously -- from virtualized data centers and cloud computing services to traditional wired and wireless networks.

The results of this international workplace study reveals that many people now believe that they no longer need to be "in the office" anymore in order to be truly productive.

This and other findings provide new insight into the expectations, demands, and behavior of today's global workforce -- that's influencing the way information is accessed and how business communications are changing.

"The Cisco Connected World Report gives further insight into the future of the workplace and it is clear from the research findings that the desire among employees to be more mobile and flexible in their work lifestyles is extremely strong throughout the world -- as strong as salary, said Marie Hattar, Vice President, Borderless Networks, Cisco.

She added, "It is also evident that organizations need to embrace a borderless IT infrastructure to capture competitive advantage and increase employee satisfaction. The employee desire to be productive anytime, anywhere, using any device provides an opportunity to embrace the agility and flexibility provided through a Borderless Network Architecture."

Key Findings from the Cisco Connected World Report include:

• The study, which involved surveys of 2,600 workers and IT professionals in 13 countries, revealed that three of every five employees (60 percent) believed it was unnecessary to be in the office to be productive. This was especially the case in Asia and Latin America. More than nine of 10 employees in India (93 percent) said they did not need to be in the office to be productive. This sentiment was extremely prevalent in China (81 percent) and Brazil (76 percent) as well.
• Two of every three employees surveyed (66 percent) expect IT to allow them to use any device -- personal or company-issued -- to access corporate networks, applications, and information anywhere at any time, and they expect the types of devices to continue diversifying. In the future, employees expect their choice of network-connected endpoints to broaden to non-traditional work devices like televisions and navigation screens in cars.
• For employees who can access corporate networks, applications, and information outside of the office, about half of the respondents (45 percent) admitted working between two to three extra hours a day, and a quarter were putting in four hours or more. However, extra hours do not translate to always-on, on-demand employees. They simply want the flexibility to manage their work-life balance throughout their waking hours.
• Employees also feel strongly about having the flexibility to work anywhere that it would dictate their company loyalty (13 percent), choice of jobs (12 percent), and morale (9 percent). For example, two of three employees worldwide (66 percent) said they would take a job with less pay and more flexibility in device usage, access to social media, and mobility than a higher-paying job without such flexibility. This percentage was higher in some countries, such as Spain (78 percent), despite economic woes the past couple years.
• Almost half of the IT respondents (45 percent) said they are not prepared policy- and technology-wise to support a more borderless, mobile workforce. Not surprisingly, security is the top concern.
• Although many of the IT respondents felt security (57 percent), budget (34 percent), and staff expertise (17 percent) were the biggest barriers to enabling a more distributed workforce, employees often felt IT and corporate policies were the obstacles. This perception among employees was extremely prevalent in India, where more than half (58 percent) felt IT was the obstacle to a more flexible work style.