Padmasree Warrior cries: Innovation through collaboration!

The next wave of IT innovation must meet the demands of a mobile, urban planet, said Cisco CTO Padmasree Warrior at her CiscoLive! keynote address in Orlando this week. And this demographic will collaborate globally to innovate, which means IT vendors must innovate so they can collaborate, Warrior said. IT up to now has been a catalyst for globalization; but it is now a major influencer of innovation, she said.

There is a massive urbanization trend coming, Warrior says, in which people will migrate towards major cities. These cities will consume 70% of the world's energy and produce 80% of its green house gases, she said. At the same time, mobility will continue to explode. Every second there are 30 mobile devices sold, compared to four people being born, Warrior said. People will use the tools to "brainform," Warrior said: instantly gather and communicate ideas globally for unified innovation. An example of this open innovation is Proctor & Gamble, an enterprise where half of its innovations come from outside the company, Warrior said. At the same time, systems will be needed to contol energy consumption and green house gas emissions in burgeoning urban areas. Cisco itself said this week it is aiming to reduce its green house gas emissions 25% by 2012.

This will spur the next wave of IT innovations in data center virtualization and sustainability, Warrior said. As an example, Cisco demonstrated an application that allows a user to control the company's VFrame Data Center orchestration and coordination appliance from an Apple iPhone. "Ideas get stronger when they are shared," Warrior said. "When 'I' becomes 'we,' we can change the world." 

See also: Cisco's new CTO talks first impressions

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