Cisco recently announced the company plans to open a new software R&D center in Linkou, New Taipei City, Nothern Taiwan, making the first of its kind in the Asia-Pacific region, the United Daily News reported on January 14. The new center is designed to help local startups to develop solutions for 5G private networks in Taiwan with an aim to help them speed up time-to-market. Initially, the company will provide startups all necessary resources to speed up the pace in R&D and solutions for be initially for use in smart transportation including autonomous driving, medical care (for instance strengthening the communications between ambulances and hospitals), and smart manufacturing. In the long term, Cisco strives to team up with these local startups to come out with new rollouts to better tap the global market. The new center is slated for inauguration after the Chinese Lunar New Year that ends February 16. Other than Taiwan, Cisco has similar software R&D centers located in the United States and Europe. In 2020, the company set up an open, flexible, and compatible test platform for 5G open networks to help big names in Taiwan such as Foxconn Electronics, Compal, Inventec, Pegatron, Accton Technology, SerComm, and Alpha Networks build their private networks. For instance, the company has provided Compal small cell equipment, mobile edge computing devices, and smart connected devices to help Compal develop 5G private network solutions for use in smart manufacturing, smart healthcare, smart agriculture, smart home, and smart entertainment.