On 15 February 2019, Cisco officially launched its Innovation Centre and Cybersecurity Centre of Excellence in Singapore at its brand new office space located at Mapletree Business City. The two centres are designed to catalyse digital innovation and development in line with the focus areas of Singapore’s Digital Economy Framework for Action.

The Innovation Centre is the Cisco’s first in SEA and 13th globally that will bring together customers, industry partners, start-ups, application developers, accelerators, government organizations and universities to work on problems unique to the region, with a particular focus on Cybersecurity and the Internet of Things (IoT).

As for the Cybersecurity Centre of Excellence, it will expand Cisco’s threat intelligence research and security incident response capabilities in the APAC region. The centre comprises a new Talos threat intelligence headquarters and a Security Operations Center (SOC) that will partner with government, industry, and universities to improve national cybersecurity posture and grow regional talent.

Cisco also hopes to bring some of its innovations from overseas to Singapore, such as the way it is collaborating with the port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands to help it go fully autonomous by 2023. It is also conducting a trial in Sydney to help measure public transport occupancy rates which are then fed to commuters in real time through an app.

Mr Chng Kai Fong, Managing Director of Economic Development Board, said that “Singapore welcomes global technology leaders like Cisco to deepen their presence here.” Cisco's new facilities will "not only build new digital capabilities in Singapore for the Asia-Pacific region, but also provide opportunities for Singaporeans to work with the best minds in the company.”