思科的城市改造大计

    “智能互联社区主张万物互联，”惠布里茨说。“对于一个城市的市政府而言，重要的是要在商业价值方面开始考虑速度和信息提供。”

    这一点在思科2012年“影响论坛”的举办地诺娜湖社区这样的超大开发项目上就得到了体现。诺娜湖社区位于奥兰多地区，占地面积达7,000英亩,思科在那里正在为塔维斯托克集团提供咨询服务，帮助后者建造占地650英亩的“医疗城”，其中将会包括一家养老院、一家退伍军人医院、一家儿童医院以及向住户提供超快速光纤网络连接服务。

    思科“影响论坛”开幕之夜的主持人是塔维斯托克集团高级副总裁撒迪厄斯•西摩。塔维斯托克集团几年前买下了诺娜湖社区所在地块，计划与奥兰多市及几家非营利性的合作伙伴一起开发综合用地项目。思科向塔维斯托克集团提供战略咨询、设备及其他配套服务，以此支持诺娜湖社区项目。

    正如西摩所述，诺娜湖社区项目的成功取决于如下押注是否能够获得成功：超高速互联网（包括通过布线把每幢房子的网络连接速度设定在10倍于标准宽带的水平）将会吸引医疗专家在该地区生活，从事研究工作。而且如果开发商和思科能够恰好协调配置这些便利设施的话，该地区的房价将保持高位溢价水平。如果你可以在未受污染的土地上（而不是在一个现有的城市里）建造这样的社区的话，那么你更加容易下这个赌注。这个赌注依据的想法是：信息技术已成为继电力、供暖及供水之后的第四项公用服务。

    这个赌注还促使思科进入产品设计和品牌推广。它的技术手段在这些领域可能无法减弱一些老大哥般的设计。在诺娜湖社区，思科首席演示官吉姆•格拉布展示了一部“raspberry pie”——这是一款最初面向儿童销售的售价为35美元的电脑。格拉布说：“这部电脑可以成为车库门开启器，可以成为自动调温器。”

    钱伯斯稍后说：“在这个面积只有曼哈顿一半大小的大都市地区，差不多10年之后就会拥有数十万亿个传感器。”这时格拉布侧身走过舞台，向与会者展示一系列监控摄像头。“这个系统具有这个功能，如果小孩失踪了，那么这个系统就可以利用银行摄像头及其他地方的摄像头来迅速找到小孩，”钱伯斯插话说。“因此，突然之间，我们能够以一种非常独特的方式来保护儿童及环境。”

    对于钱伯斯而言，政府的勇气意味着支持利用摄像头来保护儿童的构想。随着思科进入一些老城市，它有必要对一些民众可能提出的愤怒批评做好准备。

    译者：iDo98

    "Smart+ Connected Communities argues for the Internet of everything," Huijbregts says. "It's important for a municipality to start thinking about speeds and feeds in terms of business value."

    This plays out in mega-developments like Lake Nona, the site of Cisco's 2012 Impact Forum. Lake Nona is a 7,000-acre site in the Orlando area where Cisco is advising the Tavistock Group on the rollout of its 650-acre "Medical City," which will include a nursing home, veterans' hospital, children's hospital, and ultra-fast fiber connections to homes.

    The emcee for opening night of its Impact Forum was Thaddeus Seymour, senior VP of Tavistock Group, which purchased Lake Nona several years ago, planning the area for mixed-use development with the city of Orlando and non-profit partners. Cisco has been giving a combination of strategy advice, equipment, and other services to Tavistock to support the Lake Nona project.

    As Seymour tells it, Lake Nona's success hinges on a bet that Internet overdrive -- including wiring each house for a connection up to 10 times faster than standard broadband -- will attract medical experts to live and conduct research in the area and will sustain a price premium if the developer and Cisco tune the amenities just right. This wager -- which is much easier to make when you can build on unspoiled land rather than in an existing city -- is based on the idea that IT has become a "fourth utility" on top of power, heat, and water.

    This bet also pulls Cisco into product design and branding, areas where its tech skills may fail to soften some Big Brother-like designs. At Lake Nona, Cisco chief demonstration officer Jim Grubb showcased a "raspberry pie," a $35 computer initially marketed to kids. "It can be your garage door opener, it can be your thermostat," said Grubb.

    "In this metropolitan area, which is half the size of Manhattan, there will literally in 10 years be billions of sensors," said Chambers a bit later, as Grubb sidled across the stage to show off a range of surveillance cameras. "This has the capability, if a child disappears, to be able to use the bank cameras and others to quickly locate them," interrupted Chambers. "So it suddenly begins to allow us to protect our children and our environment in a very unique way."

    Government courage, to Chambers, means embracing the idea of protecting kids with cameras. As Cisco moves into older cities, it should brace itself for some static.