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Hot topics headline agenda at ITU Telecom World 2013
Key players from across industry share views on network virtualization, Big
Data and the future Internet
Bangkok, 22 November 2013 – Debates this week at ITU Telecom
World 2013 spanned a huge range of topics from social and mobile apps to the
transformative impact of the Internet in Africa.
Visions of the future
Inspirational futurist Gerd Leonhard, CEO, Futures Agency, delivered a
compelling, challenging, and at times chilling glimpse into a possible near
future dominated by data, digital dependence and dramatic sociological changes.
Over the next ten years, human-to-machine interfaces will take us far beyond
connected fridges, self-parking cars and intelligent wristwatches – and at an
unbelievable pace, as real life begins to outstrip fiction. Artificial
intelligence will augment our bodies and extend our personalities into devices,
as chips as small as 5 nanometres across become fast, cheap and embedded in
everything. This is the new version of the Internet: the Internet of everything
with up to 100 billion connected devices. We will be living inside a computer
– and our mobile phones will function as an external brain. Used responsibly,
this can bring unprecedented benefits, increased efficiency, vastly more
comfortable and convenient lifestyles. But there is an equally huge associated
risk of unintended consequences in an age of exponential expansion in
connectivity. Big Data also presents risks, as a data economy estimated at USD
15 trillion could trigger data wars over the power that massive money puts in
play, in addition to failures in privacy and security as “the power of
technology exceeds the scope of ethics”. The big message for the ICT industry is
to establish a trust framework, think laterally in a fluid ecosystem, and
establish a digital bill of rights adapted to the new digital reality. “If you
are in the technology business, you are in the trust business” – if you want to
survive.
A preview of this session here: http://youtu.be/dDky5wMWiVU
Big Data: True value, frameworks, trust
Providing expert perspectives on where the true value in Big Data lies,
Oxford Internet Institute’s Viktor Mayer-Schönberger told a packed room, “The
true value of data is only reaped if data is being re-used over and over and
over again for multiple purposes.” Faced with increasing competition and the
prospect of cutting costs to remain competitive, a more viable long term growth
strategy – which Mayer-Schönberger foresees – is telcos fully entering the Big
Data arena. Nevertheless, “existing legal frameworks are quite inadequate to
address the Big Data phenomenon,” according to Covington & Burling’s Daniel
Cooper, and fail to address a number of key areas including data retention.
Interwoven throughout the session’s conversation was the crucial notion of
trust, as building trust is critical for players operating in this environment.
“The relation with big data and trust and privacy is eminent in every
initiative,” noted Verizon’s Harm Arendshorst. “Customers want and need to trust
their provider, and this is a trend likely to continue going forward”. “Trust is
a valuable currency in the marketplace, expect more trust-related services,”
said Mayer-Schönberger. Building a secure, trustworthy, collaborative
environment will be the key, with the correct framework to support it.
A preview of this session here: http://youtu.be/bapHOYkW9oU
Spotlight on virtualized networks
Hunger for expert information on one of the hottest topics in the ICT
industry was evident in the audience-driven discussion on Network
Virtualization. “Separating the network function from the hardware and allowing
these functions fro be orchestrated from the cloud environment is the key
driver,” said Jan Ellsberger of Ericsson. “This will be invaluable in allowing
dynamic, flexible and automated networks to cope with the increased and highly
heterogeneous demand in the near future, where every possible device that could
benefit from being connected will be connected.” Scalability and agility make
“virtualization a business necessity for customers," said Kelly Ahuja, Cisco,
“in addition to the reduction in both capital and operating expenses in the
longer term.” Network virtualization is not without its challenges:
ensuring network security and quality is vital, in particular during the
transition, whilst standardization and interoperability have yet to be
addressed. Business models will be as varied as the possibilities of
virtualizing different combinations of different components of the network. As
Magedanz indicated, the major change for telcos is moving from (being) network
companies to IT companies, opening up issues of support models, ownership and
education as the operator moves from the vertical to the horizontal platform.
The technology is there; the implementation has started. Network virtualization
is moving from concept to reality, an enormous new opportunity for the industry.
A preview of this session here: http://youtu.be/APDwsLo4Am0
Catch up on key session summaries and daily highlights of sessions and latest
event news are available via
http://world2013.itu.int/
Follow the event live via twitter using
the hashtag #ITUWORLD.
For more information, please contact:
Sanjay Acharya
Chief, Media Relations and Public Information, ITU
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Note for media: Videos and photos of ITU Telecom
World 2013 are available.
Video:
www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLpoIPNlF8P2PpyXYDRaWq57UMZ0MnIpX_
Photo:
www.flickr.com/photos/itupictures/collections/72157630527796340/
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