The Mayor of San Francisco, Edwin Lee, was in Cork for Saint Patrick’s Day, where he met local technology industry leaders and still led the festivities back home.
Cork and San Francisco are twinned cities, and the technological feat of leading the parade in the US was made possible through using Cisco TelePresence.
Mayor Lee was welcomed by Denis Collins, chairman of the board, it@cork, on his first official trip outside the USA. The San Francisco delegation comprised supervisors, industry and municipal leaders on an official visit and it met with the team in CIT Blackrock Castle Observatory and it@cork board members.
"Our global cluster," said Collins, "is focused on leading and building linkages for mutual economic benefits, academic improvements, and social enhancements. Our organisation represents many companies based in San Francisco. It’s my pleasure to welcome Mayor Lee and I look forward to growing our relationship. Our cluster of 300 companies, driving 300 billion globally, and more than 1 billion in Ireland is fully committed to making a tangible difference".
"I am delighted to work with Denis Collins and a pedigree global organisation like the European Tech Cluster," said Mayor Lee. "I look forward to strengthening ties between our regions for mutual benefit"
Combining the official visit with his duties at home, Mayor Lee was able to virtually lead the San Francisco parade via a live stream to crowds watching on mobile devices and in San Francisco’s Civic Plaza
It was the first time a Mayor led Saint Patrick’s Day parades on both sides of the Atlantic.
"The ability to virtually lead the San Francisco St Patrick’s parade from Cork is just one example of the exciting opportunities which today’s technology creates," said Tim Lucey, Cork City Manager. "This follows on the recent success of the ITLG Conference which took place in City Hall, Cork in January and which saw over 40 US investors and senior executives take part. We aim to explore the opportunities that new technology such as this provides for the benefit of jobs, business and citizens in Cork."
"I am delighted to welcome Mayor Lee and his official delegation from San Francisco to Cork for our St Patrick’s Festival," said John Buttimer, councillor and Lord Mayor of Cork. "The fact that Mayor Lee has chosen Cork for his first international visit shows the strength of the twinning relationship between Cork and San Francisco. I am very excited to be addressing the St Patricks Day parade in San Francisco from Cork with Mayor Lee and I look forward to the weekend’s events."
"Ireland has a city centric population. Globally world populations are shifting to urban centres. As a result community leaders are increasingly pressed for answers to problems including budget and resource constraints, aging infrastructure and the impact of global warming," said Adam Grennan, Cisco Ireland general manager . "Cisco Smart+Connected Communities solutions use intelligent networking capabilities to bring together people, services, community assets and information to help community leaders address these world challenges."
The programme explores how Cork can most cost effectively implement a Smart+ Connected Community for the benefit of the city and the country. Programmes in other cities includes walk in centres where entrepreneurs and other business people can use the latest video conferencing technology to connect with prospects and customers globally.
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