Networking and cybersecurity company Cisco has built a smart building system into Africa infrastructure development fund manager Harith General Partners' offices in Chislehurston, Sandton.

Harith chairperson Tshepo Mahloele, on February 27, emphasised that the infrastructure Harith funds must be durable and serve its purpose throughout its lifecycle and for future generations.

“Partnerships are integral to our work and one of the main attractions is the technology visible in our building,” he said.

The Harith building was currently one of the smartest in the world, said Cisco senior VP and global innovation officer Dr Guy Diedrich.

“What we have put together here, in our partnership with Harith and the demonstration of the smart building system, is purpose and execution. Our corporate purpose is to empower an inclusive future for all,” said Cisco executive VP Francine Katsoudas.

“We see many opportunities on the continent and tech can be used for good, if we include everyone. This is not the case currently,” she said.

Mahloele pointed out how an initiative to improve connectivity in underserved communities in ten West African States brought development to the communities and their youth.

“However, we need to securely connect everyone, which is both an opportunity and risk in Africa. We at Cisco play a key role in securing connections. With the power of secure connectivity, smart buildings and smart cities can be powered by AI and we had an opportunity to showcase how this can be done in a responsible way at Harith's offices,” said Katsoudas.

One of Harith's main focus areas is the energy sector. It is important at this historic juncture to power the planet and energy economies for sustainable development, noted Mahloele.

“This building is the manifestation of our partnership with Harith. If we can measure something, we can manage it, and that is what this building is about. It also falls squarely in Cisco's purpose of powering an inclusive future for all across all different economic strata. This is part of our long-lasting commitment to South Africa and Africa,” said Diedrich.

By leveraging real-time energy use insights, the SmartXperience Building demonstrates best practices in smart infrastructure, data-driven decision-making and environmental responsibility. It integrates cutting-edge technology to measure, report and optimise energy consumption.

Automation and monitoring help reduce unnecessary power consumption, while sensors deployed across the building provide insight into air quality, temperature, humidity and ambient noise levels, he detailed.

The Cisco Catalyst 9000 switches support 90 W Universal Power over Ethernet Plus and help enable carbon-neutral facility operations for lighting, blind automation and a variety of sensors.

This information also enables monitoring the carbon footprint of each device and room through a Sustainability Dashboard powered by machine-generated data management software company Splunk, which Cisco acquired in 2024.

Further, the hybrid workspaces in the building all have smart room and desk booking, touchless voice assistants, digital signage, wayfinding and workplace analytics.

All the meeting rooms are equipped for high-quality video conferencing, including integration to Microsoft Teams, Google Meet and Zoom.

Cisco Webex AI has also been enabled on all collaboration devices, boosting productivity with real-time summaries, action items, answers from AI Assistant and content conversion to video or polls.

“In addition to proactive energy management and automated room booking provided by this smart building, our tools aim to enable collaboration to continue before, during and after meetings.

“The meetings are summarised and every one present has access to the notes and information after they have left to enable them to continue collaborating beyond the meetings,” said Cisco sub-Saharan Africa CTO Conrad Steyn during a demonstration tour of the building and facilities.

AI is changing how people and technology work together. AI, and the automation it enables, will change the workplace significantly. Collaboration happens everywhere and a future-proofed workplace must support this and retain the agility to respond to future needs.

The smart system can also scale up to smart city size, he noted during the tour.

Meanwhile, Cisco supported the creation of the SmartXperience building as part of the Country Digital Acceleration programme. This project exemplifies the commitment to future-proofed workplaces, sustainable operations, energy efficiency and digital transformation, Diedrich said.