Cisco Supports Country Transformation Project in Ireland

DUBLIN, IRELAND--(Marketwire - February 17, 2010) -   Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) today announced that it is supporting "Your Country, Your Call," a global initiative to encourage innovative proposals that can help foster economic renewal in Ireland. Cisco donated collaborative technologies, including Web applications and Cisco WebEx™ conferencing, to help the initiative gather ideas from around the world while limiting its environmental impact.

Your Country, Your Call aims to find two transformational proposals that will enable the Irish economy to grow, employment to be created and prosperity to flourish. With a prize fund of EUR 200,000 and Mary McAleese, the president of Ireland, as its patron, the initiative spans a broad range of categories from sports and arts to communications and technology.

Using Cisco collaboration technology, anyone in the world will be able to register for the initiative regardless of their location, entering online at www.yourcountryyourcall.com. Collaborative technologies will allow competition finalists from around the world to interact with and be interviewed online by the Your Country, Your Call judging panel.

Speaking about the announcement, Kim Majerus, managing director, Cisco Ireland, said: "Your Country, Your Call is a collaborative initiative designed to involve the Irish population and citizens around the world in Ireland's future economic success. Working with many diverse organisations and individuals, Cisco is helping enable Ireland to tap into ideas, expertise and people all over the world. This is a great example of the way in which collaboration and communication can strengthen an organisation -- or in this case, an entire economy."

She added: "We are working to make Your Country, Your Call as environmentally efficient as possible by eliminating the need for paper-based entry and allowing face-to-face interaction among the initiative finalists, without the need for carbon-intensive travel."

The competition was launched on 17 February 2010 and is open to anyone with an idea for Irish development. Full entry details are available at www.yourcountryyourcall.com.

Links / URLs:

• Your Country, Your Call: www.yourcountryyourcall.com

Tags / Keywords:
Your Country Your Call, Ireland, Cisco, Transformation, Collaboration, President of Ireland, Webex

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About Cisco:
Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO), the worldwide leader in networking that transforms how people connect, communicate and collaborate, this year celebrates 25 years of technology innovation, operational excellence and corporate social responsibility. Information about Cisco can be found at http://www.cisco.com. For ongoing news, please go to http://newsroom.cisco.com. Cisco equipment in Europe is supplied by Cisco Systems International BV, a wholly owned subsidiary of Cisco Systems, Inc.

Cisco, the Cisco logo, Cisco Systems and Cisco WebEx are registered trademarks or trademarks of Cisco Systems, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the United States and certain other countries. All other trademarks mentioned in this document are the property of their respective owners. The use of the word partner does not imply a partnership relationship between Cisco and any other company. This document is Cisco Public Information.

Contact Information:

Press Contact:
Darren Connolly
Connolly English for Cisco Ireland
T:+353 87 2604441
E:darren@connollyenglish.com

Fiona Buckley
Cisco UK and Ireland
T: 020 8824 1823
E:fibuckle@cisco.com