Cisco Pledges $225M for COVID-19 Response Support; Chuck Robbins Quoted

Cisco has earmarked $225M to support global COVID-19 response efforts, including technology development and other healthcare, government and educational initiatives.

Chuck Robbins, chairman and CEO of Cisco, wrote in a blog post published Sunday that Cisco pledged $8M in cash and $210M in-kind support for COVID-19 programs under the World Health Organization and UN Foundation.

The company also supports rapid technology deployment for agencies and businesses through its Country Digital Acceleration initiative, in addition to allocating $5M in grants to nonprofit organizations through the Cisco Foundation.

Robbins added that Cisco is also providing access to its Webex communication platform and other security offerings for frontliners and international government entities.

“We will continue to monitor the impact of COVID-19 on our employees, customers, partners, and communities, and evaluate other ways we can help as things evolve,” he said. “While our world will be different as we move into the future, it is important that we stay focused on making a positive impact in every way possible.”

Cisco’s Webex offering has been supporting online communications for over 2.2M people, including the Canadian, Colombian, French and German governments in need of virtual response coordination, according to Robbins.