Cisco’s Chintan Patel on connections and the internet of the future

The network provider’s chief technical officer talks to Andy Martin about using 5G to create smart cities that work to enchance our lives

Cisco blocks 20 billion ‘cyber threats’ every day (Cisco)

When Chintan Patel was growing up in London, he had a next-door neighbour called Mr Singh. Mr Singh was a professor of mathematics. If the young Chintan was ever stuck on his homework, his parents would say to him, “Go and see Mr Singh.”

Apart from helping him with his arithmetic, Mr Singh would regularly tell him that tech was going to be huge when he grew up, so he needed to know all about it, but he would add, “Don’t forget business!” He was more into applied maths than the pure kind. “He was a big influence on me,” says Patel when we meet in the cafe at the British Library on Euston Road. “I’m forever grateful for his guidance and inspiration.”

The idea of a grand synthesis between science and commerce has led Chintan Patel, now 43, to his current position of chief technical officer at Cisco, the network provider. But he also has a sense of the romance of technology. He is a utopian by instinct, a seer who dreams of endless progress. “Who would have imagined, 50 years ago, that we’d have devices in our pockets more powerful than the computers they took to the moon?”

There is a beautiful short story by Jorges Luis Borges, “The Aleph”, in which he imagines a single point in space that contains the entire universe. Patel is a bit like Borges. “Everything is interconnected now,” he says, giving thanks for 30 years of the world wide web and 20 years of wifi. Everything and everyone. Potentially. Patel doesn’t want anyone to feel left out. The Orkneys, for example. He is in the midst of bringing 5G to the Orkney islands. We are not insular by nature, he argues. “All the research shows that we love connectivity.”

Patel, guided by Mr Singh, took joint honours in science and economics at Brunel University. “I loved the tech, I loved the economics, ie what you can practically do with it in the real world,” he says. His first job after graduation was in accounting. “I got bored though. At a certain point, I thought: I can’t bear to look at another receipt!” After that he took on a variety of jobs: building websites, working for Nortel networks on the Toronto stock exchange, and serving on a Y2K emergency callout team.

He moved to a French start-up, which then merged with Cisco. “We’re at the heart of the internet,” he says. He has a point: 80 per cent of all internet traffic, somewhere along the line, touches Cisco technology. His mission is “to connect the unconnected”. Four billion people are already connected. Only another 4 billion to go then. A fairly large number of those using the internet are up to no good, of course. Cisco blocks 20 billion “cyber threats” every day – or seven trillion a year, from states, gangs and rogue individuals. They work with GCHQ and Interpol to protect infrastructure against malware and viruses. “It’s a big part of what we do,” he says. “Email is still the number one entry point.” You have been warned.

There’s still so much we can deliver, particularly with 5G. We’ll get a lot of enrichment in healthcare and education

It’s amazing he manages to remain optimistic, almost evangelical, in the face of this bottomless well of online iniquity. “There’s still so much we can deliver, particularly with 5G,” he says. “We’ll get a lot of enrichment in healthcare and education.” 5G, he argues, offers 100 times more capacity and 10 times the number of devices per square kilometre, combined with 10 times less energy use.

Cisco are tech partners with Manchester City FC (and several other clubs around the world). But could they do anything to sort out VAR? “We’re working on improving the fan experience,” he says, wryly. “In-seat engagement” in a “connected stadium” is the next big thing. Patel is a Spurs fan. “We’re all fans one way or another.” Mancunians are henceforth to be known as “Cityzens” (although I’m not sure United fans will appreciate that so much). Patel has a “smart project” up and running in Manchester. The idea of it is to “get people moving”. The bus system is going to be so fine-tuned that if you walk a couple of stops then you get the rest of your ride free. And your phone will sound an alarm if you even stop to look at a burger. Actually, I made that up, but you get the idea. They’re helping to fight the flab (Patel, by the way, looks fit as a flea, so it’s obviously working).

Patel is doing something similar with Hull City Council too, turning Hull into a “smart city”. Sensors on the roads will warn people with allergies about high levels of pollution. Unlike the buses of old that would always pulls away just when you went running up to them (cursing, generally), they are now being gently guided towards stops where people are waiting for them. Buses are becoming more altruistic. And if you run hard enough to catch one it will not only stop and pick you up but also congratulate you on burning up another 100 calories (again, I think I made that up, but the Patel vision of a nicer data-driven world is contagious).

If you live or work in Canary Wharf, you should be able to access Cisco’s “Wi-fi 6” open roaming system. They’re trialling it right now. “We’re eradicating all the hiccups in connecting up,” says Patel. “We aim to take out the friction.” And you need never get lost amid the concrete canyons of Canary Wharf ever again.

Patel is also concerned with the internet of the future. “Quantum computing could break every encryption system we have today.” So he is working on “post-quantum cryptography” to “augment” what we already have rather than rip it all out and start again. You might have a bit of difficulty remembering a post-quantum password though.

Having learned so much from Mr Singh, Chintan Patel is now returning the favour and teaching science, technology, engineering and maths (Stem), or Steam when you include the arts, to kids. The “academy programme” involving schools and online courses is producing the next generation of scientists and engineers. And there is a “hackathon” for university students. Patel also regularly goes into prisons here and in Italy to pass on his skills to prisoners. Is he sure he is not producing a new generation of hackers and cybercriminals to rule over the dark web? He laughs. “It’s all about rehabilitation and employability. I had one ex-con write to me and say, ‘You’ve transformed my life.’ That’s so rewarding.”