As the world enters the clever age and Cisco enters its fifth decade, we’ve got an unbelievable alternative to drive moral, accountable, and sustainable management – and to deliver others together with us. The skill to entry and leverage digital applied sciences is changing into extra vital as AI develops. Technology is now a foundational pillar for our society, folks, authorities, and surroundings. It has additionally turn out to be the spine of resiliency, offering the entry and capabilities that ecosystems must not simply survive, however thrive.
Cisco’s Purpose: Powering an Inclusive Future for All
The troublesome fact, nonetheless, is that a lot of the world’s inhabitants nonetheless can’t be described as “resilient” and the hole is widening as innovation and alter speed up. At Cisco, we’ve got the distinctive alternative to responsibly drive affect on a worldwide scale. We know that once we put our Purpose into apply, we drive development for our enterprise, folks, and communities. Now, simply forward of Cisco’s 40th anniversary, I’m thrilled to share our FY24 Purpose Report, detailing our targets, accomplishments, and the alternatives forward as we work to Power an Inclusive Future for All. Here are some highlights of the 12 months:
- Named #1 Best Company to Work For in 16 international locations by Fortune and Great Place to Work
- 86% of our staff drove neighborhood affect by donating, volunteering, advocating for causes, and extra. This marks our 5th 12 months in a row above 80% worker participation.
- 96% of electrical energy for Cisco amenities got here from renewable sources
- The Cisco Foundation dedicated $35 million to fund local weather options since FY21
- Cisco Talos noticed 800 billion safety occasions every day, driving world cyber resiliency
- Cisco Crisis Responses responded to 30+ pure disasters and humanitarian crises
- Through Cisco Networking Academy, we reached 4.7 million college students in FY24 – and even opened the first floating Networking Academy within the Amazon
- Cisco’s Country Digital Acceleration program has 1,600 energetic, accomplished, or in-pipeline tasks throughout 50 international locations
Partnerships Built on Trust
Our Purpose is woven internally throughout our firm and can be scaled externally by a community of devoted companions. Our success is fueled by the work of many – many individuals, corporations, communities, governments, Partners, clients, establishments, and others in search of to alter our world for the higher. But this vital work can solely be completed when one key component is current: belief. Trust with our clients, authorities leaders, our folks, and our communities. We know that belief is our most useful foreign money. The 2024 Edelman Trust Barometer discovered that companies are most trusted to combine improvements into society — greater than NGOs, authorities, or the media. Cisco is dedicated to main with safe, trusted options, simply as we’ve got for 40 years. It’s a privilege to have that belief and a duty that Cisco doesn’t take flippantly.
For All
There’s monumental alternative in AI, however we should deliver others alongside. As we take a look at rising markets across the globe, the potential financial affect of AI is immense. Recent estimates counsel AI might improve Africa’s financial system by US$2.9 trillion by 2030 and that India’s AI providers might be value US$17 billion by 2027. But this unbelievable potential can solely be realized if work is finished to shut the digital and information divide alongside the way in which. Many growing economies lag far behind in resiliency and connectivity, curbing entry to training, healthcare, jobs, and extra.
In reality, 2.6 billion folks world wide are nonetheless with out Internet entry and even amongst these which can be linked, there are disparities in high quality and affordability. Fixed-broadband Internet wanted for data-intensive apps is prohibitively costly, if obtainable in any respect. And 3G – not even 4G – stays the prevalent cell expertise in much less economically-developed international locations. Reliably and securely connecting populations is step one towards inclusion, and we must always all really feel the crucial to attach the unconnected and battle this rising divide.
Our Next Big Ambition: 40 Communities
40 years in the past, Cisco was based to handle a primary want — the necessity for connection. Since then, Cisco has linked communities, international locations, and continents internationally, accelerating expertise and impacting multiple billion lives within the course of. As we have a good time 40 years of affect, we’re excited to introduce our subsequent large ambition: 40 Communities. Over the subsequent 10 years, we intend to have interaction, assist, and spend money on 40 communities world wide.
To accomplish that, we plan to increase upon current choices and contributions — together with funding, expertise, and experience — in each communities the place Cisco is at the moment engaged and newly recognized communities. But, most significantly, we’ll faucet into our neighborhood companions — on-the-ground specialists who actually perceive a neighborhood’s largest wants, targets, and alternatives, and who may also help us finest decide how we will create the best affect.
Looking Back While Looking Ahead
I’ve been fortunate sufficient to have a front-row view of Cisco’s innovation and development for almost 30 of those previous 40 years, and I discover myself reflecting on how a lot our Purpose work — starting from digital skilling to Circular Design Principles — has developed previously 4 many years. As we’ve showcased in this 12 months’s Purpose Report, our progress is accelerating, particularly as AI helps us turn out to be extra human, extra artistic, and extra productive.
And but, there may be nonetheless a lot extra for us to do. Looking forward, we’ll by no means have the ability to anticipate all of the wants or how our societies will shift. But we will decide to being powered by our Purpose and serving to communities world wide construct a extra resilient and inclusive future for all.
We invite you to assist Cisco Power an Inclusive Future for All: Partnering for Purpose
Learn extra:
Cisco Country Digital Acceleration
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