Can the Internet which has flattened the world and blurred economic boundaries, lead the way in changing the way we work, live, play and learn? Wim Elfrink, Chief Globalisation Officer and EVP, Cisco Services, posed this question to a full house on the first keynote of the first day of the Interop Mumbai conference.

Before the audience could react, Elfrink reeled off a couple of interesting statistics: 100 new one million-plus cities will be built by 2025 and over 500 million people will be urbanized over the next five years. The impact – more traffic, more pollution, more congestion and more strain on infrastructure. Is there a solution in sight or we and our future generations doomed to suffer the effects of urbanization?

“The Internet is quickly expanding from mobile devices and computers to become the 'Internet of Things,' as it begins to encompass not only the consumer and business Internet, but now the industrialisation of the Internet," said Wim Elfrink.

Elfrink believes that if cities plan well and intelligently use technologies which are available today – the social, economic and environmental effects would be monumental. Cities once networked will be able to not only intelligently deliver efficient services, but also significantly transform the quality of lives of its citizens by transforming functions such as healthcare, transportation and education.

In a live demonstration, Elfrink (who was sitting in Mumbai) demonstrated how a citizen could avail different services right from his home. As an amazed audience watched, Elfrink promptly attached an IP-aware blood pressure device to measure his blood pressure. His doctor, sitting hundreds of miles away in Bangalore, analyzed the readings of his blood pressure and promptly gave Elfrink appropriate medical advice.

The next call was made to the Regional Transport Office (RTO) in Bangalore, as Elfrink’s driving license was past its expiry date. Once the call was connected via a telepresence medium, the operator at the RTO asked Elfrink to stand in front of his web camera. Once this was done, within a span of 30 seconds, the RTO issued Elfrink a new driving license. Cisco also gave a demonstration of the impact of telepresence in sectors such as education.

As cities became more intelligent and are connected on the same network infrastructure, every citizen is digitally available. This will have tremendous impact on the way service providers deliver services, and the way we citizens consume our services.