Network Communications News (NCN) October 2017 | Page 4

EDITORIAL
The shape of things to come
I
ts been a busy time at NCN
with trips to the IP Expo in
London recently (resulting
in some interesting articles
from Silver Peak and Pure
Storage in this issue) various
other industry events and a very
informative event hosted by
ADTRAN with its annual Connect
event in Berlin, one day ahead of
the Broadband World Forum.
So, lots going on and even a
brief glance at this month’s issue
will show NCN is bursting with
many launches, case studies,
opinion, features and facts.
Pu tting together thi s m o nt h ’ s
i ssu e lef t N CN with a th o u ght
that ju st wo n’t go awa y,
eve r y thin g is a bout to c h a nge ,
bi g ti me!
A l l i n d u s t r i e s go t h ro u g h
p e r i o d s w h e re t h e re i s m o re
te c h n i c a l d eve l o p m e nt t h a n at
ot h e r p o i nt s . T h e n et wo r k i n g
a n d d ata i n d u s t r y i s n o d i f fe re nt ,
eve n b e i n g o n t h e c u t t i n g e d ge
a s i t i s , t h e re a re t i m e s w h e n i t
4 | October 2017
“Working
hard or
working
smart? The
future will
be very
different.”
Daniel J Sait,
editor in chief
fe e l s l i ke t h e s e cto r i s re a c h i n g
a t i p p i n g p o i nt . Te c h n o l o g i e s
l i ke S D - WA N a re s et to f re e n ot
j u s t n ew n et wo r k s , b u t l e ga c y
o n e s to o , a l l ow i n g co m p a n i e s
to d o w h at t h e y d o b e s t , n ot
wo r r y a b o u t t h e i r i nf ra s t r u ct u re
a n d co n c e nt rate o n co re
co m p ete n c i e s . T h e co n c e pt of
s m a r t c i t i e s (s e e t h i s m o nt h ’ s
co m m e nt f ro m o n e M 2 M ) wa s fo r
m a n y y e a r s of f s o m ew h e re i n
t h e d i s ta n c e , p atc h y exa m p l e s
h e re a n d t h e re t h at y o u co u l d
p o i nt to o , b u t m a i n l y t h e re a l i t i e s
of a s m a r t c i t y o r tow n , h u n g
ta nta l i s i n g l y of f i n t h e i m a g i n e d
f u t u re . N ow t h e re i s s t i l l a h u ge
a m o u nt of wo r k to d o , b u t w h at
d o e s fe e l d i f fe re nt n ow i s t h at
t h e m o d e l s a n d k n ow h ow d o e s
ex i s t to m a ke s m a r t u r b a n a re a s
a re a l p o s s i b i l i t y . S o m e co u nt r i e s
l i ke S o u t h Ko re a c a n a l re a d y
p o i nt to c i t i e s l i ke B u s a n a s
s h i n i n g exa m p l e s of w h at c a n b e
d o n e , t h e re s t of t h e wo r l d c a n
ta ke n ote a n d fo l l ow s u i t a n d i t
w i l l . Lo o k at w h at h a s h a p p e n e d
in China in the last 30 years,
t h e co u nt r y i s d ete r m i n e d to
b e a l e a d e r i n te c h n o l o g y a n d
has made serious noises about
l e a d i n g o n t h e e nv i ro n m e nt
a n d c l e a n e n e rg y . Y e s , i t a l s o
p l a n s to b u i l d a h u ge a m o u nt
of i nf ra s t r u ct u re i n c l u d i n g
p o l l u t i n g a i r p o r t s , b u t t h e fa ct
re m a i n s i t i s ve r y i nte re s te d i n
s m a r t te c h a n d c l e a n p owe r a n d
h a s t h e p owe r a n d m o n e y to
d r i ve d eve l o p m e nt to t h e n ex t
l eve l . C o m p a re t h at to w h at t h e
c u r re nt U . S G ov s p e n d s m o s t of
i t s t i m e d o i n g ( t w i t te r a n d go l f )
a n d i t s co m m i t m e nt to o l d e r te c h
l i ke co a l p owe re d p owe r, t h e n
i t s p ret t y c l e a r w h o w i l l b e t h e
l e a d o u t of t h e t wo i n te r m s of
p u s h i n g towa rd s a s m a r te r m o re
co n n e cte d f u t u re .
So if it feels like things are
about to go up a notch, then that
is because they are, NCN will be
on hand to catch it all and deliver
it to you every month.