Dan Pitt looks back on his recent APAC travels, and ONF welcomes six new member companies to the organization.
I spent the first two weeks of December attending events, meeting with companies, and briefing the media in China, Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan. The trip was surprisingly easy for me – good weather, great meetings, plenty of sleep, fantastic food, and incredible company. What an amazing two weeks in Asia!
I began my trip in Beijing to attend the International Mobile Internet Conference, where I participated in various networking events and meetings discussing Software-Defined Networking (SDN) and carrier-grade IP service, and the third “salon” of the China SDN Commission, the 60 members of which gathered mainly to hear the ONF update. Following that I had a couple of great days in Tokyo, meeting with some current and prospective members and attending not only another in our series of ONF Meetups but also our first-ever Member Workday Update; we’re going to do more of those.
I then traveled to Hsinchu, Taiwan, to speak at the first SDN conference in Taiwan – the International SDN Symposium. While there I met with a number of ODMs (original design manufacturers), two startup companies (both now members), and a lot of the research community. I continue to feel a hugely positive buzz from my wonderful experience in Taiwan, from both the high interest in SDN and the extremely kind treatment I received during my visit.
On Dec. 11, I spoke at the sixth meeting of OpenFlow® Korea at the Open & Virtual Networking Conference in Seoul, the first event co-hosted by ONF on the Korean peninsula. For me, the highlight of this event was a very spirited debate between the CTOs of two of Korea’s largest carriers on their preparations for SDN.
Lastly, I spoke at the SDN Japan conference during Okinawa Open Days, and I visited the new Okinawa Open Laboratory, launched this summer by NTT, NEC, and IIGA. I was even invited to meet the Vice Governor of the Prefecture of Okinawa, who is a strong supporter of IT investment in the province. I enjoyed some quality time with our Board member from NTT Communications and other notable ONF activists from around the country.
I have been impressed with the enthusiastic support of the SDN movement coming from the APAC region. At the beginning of December, we announced seven new APAC member companies to join the organization from July through November, and since (and during) my visit to Asia, we have now welcomed six more: China Telecom, Criterion Networks, Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), PCCW Global, Telecom Malaysia, and Xinguard. ONF is looking forward to working with these companies to accelerate open SDN adoption throughout the region and worldwide, and I know I will surely be heading back to Asia in 2014!
- Dan Pitt, Executive Director
