Every year, this event gets bigger in terms of scope and impact, and we continue to get great feedback from our customers and partners about the relevance of the content and the quality of the learning opportunities.   We believe it is one of the most comprehensive forums available for learning about the technologies and future trends that are impacting our sector, as well as experiencing those technologies first-hand at the World of Solutions.

Cisco Live highlights the extraordinary pace of change in the technology sector, and in the past year we have seen a significant shift towards a network-centric world.  At Cisco we have always believed the network is the platform for innovation, and now more than ever organisations globally are seeing the advantages of an intelligent network.

Some of you may have heard Cisco talking about Internet of Everything, a description we give to the intelligent connection of people, process, data and things.  Today less than 1% of things in the physical world are connected.  We believe the Internet of Everything will create new capabilities and richer connection experiences as well as unprecedented economic opportunity for businesses, individuals and countries. 

The discussions that will run across the 400 plus sessions in the coming four days will bring into sharp focus the role of the network and how it is more relevant and valuable than ever before, along with the opportunities this presents for our partners and customers alike.

Key to the harnessing the power of the Internet of Everything are future IT practitioners to deliver on the promise and the opportunity. Joining  our discussions at Cisco Live this year are some very special guests who are key to that future.

Through Cisco ANZ's Corporate Social Responsibility programme we are bringing  50 Cisco Network Academy instructors and four Cisco Network Academy students from The Cisco Networking Academy IT Ambassador's Program from around Australia, New Zealand and Fiji to participate in the full Cisco Live programme.  A further 150 students will attend the Student VIP Day in the World of Solutions on Thursday morning.  Cisco'sNetworking Academy programme teaches 100,000s of student worldwide the skills needed to build, design and maintain networks.  We are delighted to have so many join us this year.

It's going to be a busy week and one we know you will find inspiring! 

Thank  you for joining us here,

Geoff Lawrie

Country Manager, Cisco New Zealand