- The New York City show covered some of the hottest topics in the communications sector today, with software defined networking (SDN) the big buzz at the show.
NEW YORK, Oct. 9, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Light Reading, UBM Tech's market-leading online community for the global communications sector, tapped into the hottest technology trend in the global communications industry Oct 1-3 as it held its annual industry awards program, the Leading Lights, followed by a highly successful two-day conference and expo at the Javits Center in midtown Manhattan.
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That trend is software defined networking (SDN).
On October 1, Light Reading brand director Stephen Saunders and Editor-in-Chief Ray Le Maistre handed Cyan Inc. the Leading Lights award for best telecom product for its Blue Planet SDN Platform at an awards dinner in New York attended by more than 220 industry executives.
Then on October 2 and 3, industry executives attended the Ethernet & SDN Expo, which was co-located with Interop New York at the Javits Center. The Expo attracted 25 sponsors and 29 exhibitors, while the conference sessions drew keynote speakers from major communications service providers and technology vendors, including AT&T, Ciena, Alcatel-Lucent, Cisco Systems, and Verizon Communications.
The latest developments in Ethernet and packet-optical technologies and services were well represented on the Expo show floor and during the conference sessions, but the conference sessions focused on the development and management of SDN, and the related emerging technology development of network functions virtualization (NFV) drew significant crowds.
"There's no doubt that the strong focus on the potential impact of SDN and NFV on networking in general, and on the future of technologies such as Ethernet switching, IP routing, and optical transport in particular, resulted in a highly engaged audience at the event," stated Ray Le Maistre.
The momentum from the New York event and the Leading Lights awards is now being taken forward into the Big Telecom Event (Chicago, June 17-18, 2014), which will incorporate Ethernet & SDN Expo 2014. That new event, which is being developed in partnership with leading industry organizations such as the Open Networking Foundation (ONF), will expand on the game-changing developments highlighted at the New York event by integrating show floor networking and application demos with interactive conference sessions and unrivalled networking opportunities. For more information on the Big Telecom Event, contact BigTelecomEvent@ubm.com.
Le Maistre added:
We'll be following up the hottest topics and trends on Light Reading in the coming months, and with the help of our analyst colleagues at Heavy Reading, digging even deeper at the Big Telecom Event in Chicago. The communications sector is at a critical juncture in its development, and it is crucial that we help service provider and technology development executives get to grips with how SDN and NFV will impact their companies and their roles in the industry. The team here believes that the event next June will help deliver real value to the communications networking community.
