US computer networking giant Cisco Systems plans to more than triple its workforce in India and turn the South Asian nation into a platform to tap and service markets worldwide.
Chief executive officer John Chambers, who pledged US$1.16 billion in investment for India two years ago, outlined the company's plans late on Tuesday after opening a US$50 million facility in the southern city of Bangalore.
Chambers, who has expanded the company to US$35 billion in revenue from US$1.2 billion when he took over as CEO in 1995, tacked on US$100 million in additional venture capital funding.
PHOTO: EPA
From 3,000 current employees, the California-based Cisco will increase its workforce in India to 10,000 by 2010, and expects to generate 20 percent of its "future leadership" from the country, said Chambers, who is also chairman.
"This is a country that knows how to partner," he told reporters, adding Cisco saw India as intrinsic to its growth and not merely as a low-cost location. "It's a part of our long-term strategy."
Cisco will use the 93,000m2 Bangalore facility to devise networking technology solutions for customers in emerging markets in Asia, including China, and the Middle East, Africa and Latin America, Chambers said.
The Banglore location, which will eventually also serve Cisco customers in developed markets like North America and Europe, will accommodate staff from its research and development, information technology and customer support teams.
It will also house Cisco's largest campus data centre outside the US and serve as a focal point to demonstrate the company's technologies to customers.
"India is at the heart of our globalization vision and provides a platform for Cisco to capitalize on the growth potential in the emerging world," said Wim Elfrink, chief globalization officer at Cisco.
"The commitment we are making to truly globalize our business is reflective of the changing business models of our customers and partners," he said. "We will develop products and services here that will support customers in this part of the world."
The inauguration ceremony of the Bangalore facility, named the Cisco Globalization Center East, featured potential applications of the company's "Telepresence" technology, which allows groups of people in different locations to meet around a virtual "table."
The technology was used to project the life-size image of a Cisco executive in California, meeting and talking with Chambers on a stage in Bangalore as if the conversation was taking place in person.
Cisco will use part of the US$100 million in fresh venture capital it will pump into India to fund a healthcare project that it will undertake with Satyam Computer Services, India's fourth-largest outsourcing company.
An unauthorized drone intrusion over Ching Chuan Kang Air Base (清泉崗基地) at Taichung International Airport on Tuesday night forced the temporary closure of the base, diverting eight fighter jets and delaying a commercial flight, authorities said. Air Force Command Headquarters said that clear weather had allowed for scheduled night training exercises, but after a drone was spotted entering the airspace, the control tower declared an emergency closure of the airport, forcing eight Indigenous Defense Fighter jets in the air to divert and land at Hsinchu Air Base (新竹基地). Taichung airport director Chang Jui-shu (張瑞澍) said the airspace intrusion lasted from 7:37pm to
Indonesian rescuers searched for eight people who went missing at sea while heading to a volcanic island to report on an eruption there, officials said yesterday. Anak Krakatau initially erupted for about 25 hours over the weekend, and it has since continued to erupt intermittently with explosions ejecting lava, ash and incandescent volcanic material from the crater, the Indonesian Geology Agency said in a statement. A speedboat carrying five photojournalists, two crew members and a route guide lost contact after leaving Carita, a coastal town in Banten Province, for the volcanic island, Banten Province Search and Rescue Office Chief Al Amrad said. He
PRICE STABILIZATION: The Ministry of Economic Affairs has urged the legislature to support the Cabinet’s supplementary budget for state-owned energy companies State-owned oil supplier CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) on Saturday announced that it would raise domestic gasoline prices by NT$0.7 (US$0.02) per liter and diesel prices by NT$0.6 per liter this week after international crude oil prices rose above US$100 per barrel last week. Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) yesterday said that it matched CPC’s price adjustments for this week. The decisions end a six-week period during which CPC and Formosa kept fuel prices in Taiwan unchanged. Retail gasoline prices this week would rise to NT$31.2, NT$32.7 and NT$34.7 per liter for 92, 95 and 98-octane unleaded gasoline respectively at CPC
More than 100 Taiwanese-Americans, Taiwanese lawmakers and members of civic groups on Saturday marched through New York City to call for Taiwan’s participation in the UN, with Marshall Island Permanent Representative to the UN John Silk joining the event to show support. Participants chanted: “UN for Taiwan” and “Keep Taiwan Free” as they marched through central Manhattan, passing Times Square and Bryant Park before ending near the New York Public Library. The annual march brought together Taiwanese community groups from across the US East Coast. Silk expressed hope that Taiwan would one day be able to participate in UN meetings
RSS