Cisco is building and establishing a new data center in Saudi Arabia to bolster cybersecurity in the country. Plus, Webex by Cisco successfully collaborated with the 2023 Tribeca Festival in broadcasting the closing gala of one of the event’s films. Here’s the news report.
New data center in Saudi Arabia
Cisco Systems is strengthening its ties with and making more milestones in the Middle East as it builds a new data center in Saudi Arabia, set to improve cybersecurity in the country.
“[This] announcement reconfirms Cisco’s alignment to provide advanced cloud security protection and services to the Saudi community,” said Cisco’s managing director in Saudi Arabia, Salman Faqeeh. “It builds on Cisco’s long-standing commitment to our customers and reflects our continued support for digital transformation by using the power of technologies to create a secured thriving digital economy in Saudi Arabia.”
The new data center is expected to better protect users, infrastructures, and investments. The facility is also bound to support Cisco’s cloud security services in the country.
Furthermore, it will also automate decisions on how users connect to the Internet, private applications, and Software as a Service products, thereby increasing productivity.
Cisco’s new data center will be carrier-neutral and available on all Internet service providers in the Kingdom. The data center will be open by the middle of next year.
Cisco’s successful partnership with Tribeca Festival
Meanwhile, Cisco has also forged a very successful partnership with this year’s Tribeca Festival, as its Webex was chosen as the official technology provider that broadcasted the film festival’s closing gala movie, “A Bronx Tale.”
Cisco’s executive vice president and general manager, Jeetu Patel, said the company is honored to collaborate with the 2023 Tribeca Festival “to shine a light on storytellers” worldwide and “uplift diverse audiences.”
Patel added in the official Cisco news release, “Giving access to anyone in the world to attend The Festival regardless of socio-economic status or geographic location very much reinforces that a more equitable future is possible, for artists and attendees alike.”
Tribeca Festival is a yearly film festival organized by Tribeca Productions, taking place every spring in New York City. It showcases various films, talks, music, games, art, immersive programming, and more.
This year’s Tribeca Festival featured films such as “In the Shadow of Palms,” “Richelieu,” “Öte,” and “For Khadija: French Montana,” among others, as well as TV, audio storytelling works and so much more.
The event also awarded the best films in various categories, such as “Cypher,” “A Strange Path,” and “Between the Rains.”
For the first time, the Festival’s closing gala was broadcast via Webex Events, Cisco’s end-to-end event management software. The partnership also brought together artists and audiences from around the world.
“A Bronx Tale” is a 1993 coming-of-age crime drama movie directed by and starring Robert De Niro, also in his directorial debut for the film. It is produced by Jane Rosenthal, who is also the chief executive officer and co-founder of the film festival.
It sells the coming-of-age story of Calogero, an Italian-American boy who, after his encounter with a local Mafia boss, is torn between the temptations of getting involved with organized crime and the moral values of his family.
“Thirty years ago, when we independently produced ‘A Bronx Tale,’ Bob and I could only dream about sharing the film and bringing a global live audience into the 30-year celebration with a partner like Webex by Cisco,” Rosenthal said. “The Tribeca Festival is built on the belief that powerful storytelling has the ability to change the world, but first, it must be accessible to everyone. Inclusivity is at the heart of our mission to showcase creativity.”
