Birmingham is set to tap into the top table and access cutting edge communication through a radical new partnership with CISCO which would link the city's knowledge economy entrepreneurs with their peers in an exclusive club of global cities such as San Francisco, Barcelona, Paris, Dubai, London, Bangalore, Toronto and Mumbai.

The announcement was made at MIPIM 2010, the global property conference in Cannes by Birmingham City Council leader Coun Mike Whitby who is also chairman of Birmingham Science Park Aston (BSPA).

BSPA is about to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with CISCO Systems, the US-based multinational corporation that designs and sells networking and communications technology and services.

The first phase of this partnership will include the installation of state-of-the-art video conferencing facilities such as TelePresence, linking Birmingham to the world.

Coun Whitby told delegates in Cannes: "Putting Birmingham at the forefront of international communication will allow companies to connect to their international counterparts seamlessly, but without the expense of long-distance travel.

"This first step is only the beginning of a long-term partnership, to invest in Birmingham and bring more big name technology companies to the Science Park.

"The cornerstone of our long-term plans will be a £40 million ICT village, which is intended to be as iconic and recognisable as Selfridges or the new Library." 

The ambitious project will see four brand new buildings constructed at Birmingham Science Park Aston, creating an Innovation Village based round a new central facility, "iCentrum", providing access to state of the art e-collaboration platforms to link Birmingham's technology innovators and entrepreneurs to their counterparts around the world.