Real Tomorrowland Comes to Orlando

In the shadow of Disney World's Tomorrowland attraction, which exhibits visions of a "future that never was," Cisco and Bahamas-based private investment firm Tavistock Group, will build their own vision for the integrated city of the future over the next fifteen years.

As Tim Conneally explains, "the Smart+Connected initiative is Cisco's experiment with building the communications infrastructure that connects all aspects of a community, from government to health care to education to enterprise to home and beyond. More than simply a communications ecosystem, the initiative is squarely focused on preparing for the nascent "Internet of things" era."

"This means the project will touch on all of the community-focused communications we've seen developing independently over the last decade: wireless voice and data communications, fiber to the home networks, digital signage, IP video surveillance, 'smart grid' energy management, and more than 20 other 'smart services' across the entire Lake Nona community."