XaaS is finally in town - with intelligent routing and virtualization, but is the business climate up to it?

“Desktop as a service” has all data and software in the Cloud as a companion to VDI (Virtual Desktop Infrastructure) - is this the face of the future office? 

How is XaaS complement the multi-device users and enterprises with BYOD policy? Can hosted security services support other hosted and non-hosted services without interworking issues or performance impact?

The theme of this issue of Connect-World Africa and the Middle East (2014) will be:
Anything can be hosted, anything can be virtualized


The ties between mobile devices and the cloud grow stronger by the minute. The combination of these technologies is accelerating the growth of ‘liquid computing’ - the software driven ability to seamlessly move from one type of device to another to access, use, process, and change data. 
With its head in the cloud, mobile can access - and process - data and applications that until recently were confined to the largest computers. Smartphones and tablets will offer individuals and corporations alike easy, on the spot access not only to emails, social media and the Web, but to high-powered mobile computing, extraordinary virtual and augmented reality, big data and immediate access to analytics such as cognitive computing and machine learning.  
Marshalling the resources to offer virtually unlimited access to storage and on demand processing will significantly reduce the infrastructure costs and time to market for untold numbers of applications.  Cloud models, on the other hand will become increasingly more complex, powerful and subject to cyber-crime attempts.
The advantages of scale and cost - available in a wide variety of devices - will almost certainly drive the market for mobile /cloud well into the trillion-dollar range within the decade.  The mobile market is currently bigger than that for the cloud, but corporate usage and the growth of applications - the Internet of Things, for example - might soon balance the scales between the cloud/mobile and consumer/corporate markets.


The top security threats global businesses will face in 2015 include bring your own device (BYOD) trends in the workplace, data privacy in the cloud, brand reputational damage, privacy and regulation, cyber crime and the continued expansion of ever-present technology.

In 2015, attacks will continue to become more innovative and sophisticated. Unfortunately, while organisations are developing new security mechanisms, cyber criminals are cultivating new techniques to circumvent them.

Businesses of all sizes must prepare for the unknown so they have the flexibility to withstand unexpected, high-impact security events.

Internet access can be provided using a range of different types of technology, each with its own strengths and weaknesses. The best overall solution will usually combine several.

For any country to be economically competitive in the global market, its population, businesses and non-for-profit organisations need access to high-speed broadband services. The development of broadband infrastructure and services should therefore represent one of the top priorities of governments. This is particularly the case in Africa and the Middle East, where economic growth is required to fund and improve welfare, education and job creation.


It used to be that the television was the centre piece of your living room. An influx of smaller screens in the home, though, has meant that the TV has had to fight a lot harder in recent years for your attention.

One way it has done this is with new technology. While 3D fell by the wayside, due to gimmickry, smart TV functionality has finally started to shine through and then there is 4K - a technology that has quickly changed from an out-of-reach luxury to a near affordable one.

The biggest change arguably though is web connectivity. The internet has transformed into the most powerful tool for the broadcast industry. Whether it is the like of Netflix streaming its wares, smart TVs taking advantage of the internet to bolster their features or app manufacturers tuning into the needs to TV watchers, the web is where the future of television resides.

The theme for this issue will be: What is the future of Smart TV.


The advent of the Web 2.0 has caused social profiling and is a growing concern for internet privacy. Web 2.0 is the system that facilitates participatory information sharing and collaboration on the Internet, in social networking media websites like Facebook and MySpace. These social networking sites have seen a boom in their popularity starting from the late 2000s. Through these websites many people are giving their personal information out on the internet.

These social networks keep track of all interactions used on their sites and save them for later use. Issues include cyberstalking, location disclosure, social profiling, 3rd party 
personal information disclosure, and government use of social network websites in investigations without the safeguard of a search warrant.  Discuss.

The theme for this issue of Connect-World Europe II (2015) will be - Privacy issues of social networking.

According to Deloitte, over the past decade, the Indian telecom industry has witnessed many positive developments. India has attained the second largest subscriber network after China , with the total number of subscribers scaling up to about 900 million, and claiming an urban teledensity in excess of 140 and rural teledensity of 40. With an estimated base of 67 million smartphone users in 2013, India also ranks fifth amongst the top countries in this category. With an increasing smartphone penetration in the country, subscribers accessing internet through mobile devices stand at 176.50 million.
 
India has achieved a great deal in telecom in terms of accessibility and connectivity throughout the country. What might the future bring?

The theme for this issue will be Telecom: Enabling growth and serving the masses


For everyone to benefit from ICT, affordable access is key. While mobile communications is greatly enabling socio-economic development, affordability and accessibility of ICT remain a serious barrier to sufficient progress in many parts of the world. The UN International Telecommunications Union (ITU) estimates that broadband is unaffordable to nearly three billion people globally. With coordinated policy efforts, this can be addressed.  Discuss.

The theme for this issue will be: Bridging the Digital Divide in Asia-Pacific.


“Cybercrime exhibits few signs of slowing down,” said Vincent Weafer, senior vice president of McAfee Labs. “Though we tend to highlight the numbers, the fact is that we continue to see increased sophistication of attacks. Cybercrime, hacktivism, and cyberwarfare are in a continual state of evolution. Everyone from governments to large enterprises, small business and home users are facing a wider range of digital threats from these forces, as they gain more actionable intelligence on their victims, and leverage the newest attack platforms and exploits tools to launch their campaigns. We all need to equip ourselves with basic situation awareness to our online risks and how best to prevent and combat these threats.” Discuss.

Inter-network Policy is key to monetizing networked services. Traditionally, policy and charging have been considered as internal decisions… No longer. Policy servers must interact to provide end-to-end consistent delivery. Then, end-to-end charging and cross-charging can be facilitated. The future is collaboration and revenue-sharing, but this is difficult to achieve.

Mobile Money is coming of age and is spreading in the developed world, but its greatest impact is in the developing regions. This requires collaboration of several sectors - Banking, Telecom, Commerce, and Government. Once the framework is in, the sky is the limit! Can on-the-fly SLAs help grow it, enable small suppliers getting in?

SDN opens the door for 3rd parties’ services at every layer - that must be accompanied by appropriate compensation for participating parties. However, users’ charging should not be fragmented. How can this be achieved? One-stop-shop for charging, perhaps by hosted generic charging service is one idea…

Lack of inter-network agreements inhibits growth of ecosystem-based services, but numerous ad-hoc agreements cannot be manually negotiated. Perhaps SLA (Service Level Agreements) for network delivery should be negotiated on the fly, just like SLAs between App Stores and their developers.


5G (5th generation mobile networks or 5th generation wireless systems) denotes the next major phase of mobile telecommunications standards beyond the current 4G/IMT-Advanced standards. 5G is also referred to as beyond 2020 mobile communications technologies. 5G does not describe any particular specification in any official document published by any telecommunication standardization body.

Although updated standards that define capabilities beyond those defined in the current 4G standards are under consideration, those new capabilities are still being grouped under the current ITU-T 4G standards.

What might 5G bring?


We object to organisations revealing our personal details but we expose much of it on our own websites. We happily reveal-all on Social Media, yet publish the same information in the press - and it is invasion of personal space. Different people want different privacy at different times, so how do we reach consensus and design cyber privacy standards?

Analytics must support context aware applications - it is a differentiator that is yet to be fully exploited. It is what advertisers look for, and advertisers make the web tick for free. Context awareness gives apps the power to grab users’ attention and reach deeply into users’ sub-consciousness. 

Analytics are going real-time - it is a game changer. If user context can be provided at the time that a service is requested, decisions can be made on how the service is provided, how content is filtered, what level of security, what quality, which route ... What changes will this bring to content distribution? 

Big Data with faster-than-ever analytics and processing power are the catalysts for real-time context awareness. What are the new methods of filtering and analysing large volumes of data? Are there any rules?

Remember when Google started suggesting search topics? I was puzzled, may be irritated at first, but learned to love it, so long as it is based on other users. However, when context aware apps appear to know what I think - that comes too close for comfort… it smacks of surveillance. Wave it off by “Just get over it” - or is it that simple? Where are the boundaries? 

Websites retain our ‘footprint’, and no legislation can ever force them to let go… Forcing websites to destroy users’ information is like forbidding cats crossing the road. Huge amount of analytic data is already there, just waiting for Big Data tools…

India’s phenomenal development in recent years is due in good part to opportunities generated by digital technology. Digital devices, indispensible to everything from factories to entertainment, are driving the growth of a knowledge-based economy in India. Digital technology is revolutionising education, knowledge dissemination and field worker support systems and supporting endeavours of all types in places never before possible. 

Digital technologies have an greater impact upon both he urban poor and those in isolated rural areas than in more developed regions. The spread of low cost information and communication has given those in the poorest regions unprecedented access to information, goods, government services, health services, and education and has generated jobs in the most unlikely hard to reach regions. 
The spread of mobile broadband is certain to drive and accelerate these trends. Rising income, a growing number of knowledge workers, and the ripple effect generated by the ever-wider distribution of connected devices are sure to boost the economy and a great many of the benefits will flow down and reach out to even the poorest most remote citizens of India. 
This issue of Connect-World India will look at how the introduction of increasingly powerful information and communication technologies - the hardware, software, communications, applications and content - are changing life in India and preparing for a brighter future.

Security is a constant concern. Home users, businesses, governments, software and hardware providers - every user of ICT and every ICT supplier has security concerns. Has your mobile been hacked? Are you concerned about your safety in the cloud, or using virtual platforms (SaaS, XaaS)? Does possible loss of corporate date keep you up at night? We are all at risk every time we use digital technology and any time we have information to keep safe. 

We all worry about accidental and maliciously motivated security breaches. So - how do we protect ourselves and our businesses? What are the major issues and trends in hardware, software, data and, yes, physical security? What are we likely to see - both good and bad in the years to come?

The Cloud, Big Data, the Internet of Everything, machine-to-machine traffic, the explosion of multi-media entertainment, mobile traffic and a host of other established and emerging applications are already straining our networks and affecting the quality of service. Best-effort service is increasingly unacceptable, and we are only at the beginning of the era of zettabyte traffic volumes. How can we move ahead? How can we manage explosive data growth? How can we increase quality of service, guarantee security and reliability, invest in new network capacity, cope with competitive cost-cutting and still eke out a profit?

Many analysts and professionals in the sector believe that SDN is the best available answer to these questions. SDN, Software Defined Networking, promises to make the big, fast, networks we need in the zettabyte era faster, cheaper, easier to roll out, to configure and optimise.

Mobile is growing rapidly as a technology and as a service. According to the ITU, the world will soon have more active mobile lines than people. This widespread availability of inexpensive mobile devices, free applications for almost everything, immediate access to a great chunk of the world’s accumulated knowledge, entertainment, news and social networking is slowly reshaping the way we interact with the world. 
Mobile is a game changer for businesses as well. BYOD (bring your own device), mobile security, mobile commerce, cloud-based mobile business applications and company data are among the many mobile related factors businesses will need to plan for. Within the next three years, up to one third of all business users are likely give up their fixed line phones and use only smartphones to connect. Companies will have to invest in apps that offer the features of the desktop phones that, connected to the company’s systems, will access a full range of business PBX functions.
The vigorous growth of mobile broadband usage will force mobile network providers to invest while the entire value creation chain will see intense competition that will put pressure on prices.
What does all this mean? How will we, businesses, equipment manufacturers, service providers, mobile network operators, content providers, software and app developers cope with the stress of this headlong expansion? What new services and equipment will arise? Who and what will be the winners and the losers?

A recently published study by a major network equipment vendor claims that worldwide cloud traffic - 1.2 zettabytes in 2012, will grow to 5.3 zettabytes by 2017. Global data centre traffic during the same period will reach the astounding total of 7.7 zettabytes by 2017. 

One zettabyte is incomprehensible; it’s a hundred trillion - also incomprehensible - hours of music. Nevertheless, we will soon have to build, control, fill and pay for, multi-zettabyte networks and everything will have to work seamlessly and securely - everywhere. 

Even more difficult, in a very few years we have to multiply everything by seven and do everything more efficiently, more cost-efficiently and with higher quality and security than we can dream of today.

All traffic will grow, but traffic in the cloud and data center traffic is likely, by far, to grow the most. The Internet of things, the Internet of Everything, social networks, high-definition video and many other uses will each play their part in the explosion. The growth in traffic will take place everywhere in the world, but will probably accelerate most in developing regions.

The solutions will certainly include technologies not yet invented or in public view and others just starting to grow, het-nets, software defined networks, and many others.

The theme for this issue of Connect-World EMEA will be: Size Isn’t Everything - SDN in the Enterprise & NFV at the Carrier.

Squeezing more out of the network without shedding off subscribers is paramount when the economy frowns on us. Today, there are more choices of different technologies, more network options, more services - but winning subscribers still depends on providing low cost connectivity from optimised resource usage.

The theme for this issue of will be - Technology ‘medley’ is on the menu - eat wisely to enjoy it!.

The Internet rapidly claims applications that are in the eye of the subscribers, while Telecom applications are shrinking. Telcos still have the access and transport business but the access network competition is also growing, and achieving ‘Always Best Connected’ status is not a dream.

The theme of this issue: Connect-World Africa and the Middle East (2013) will be
The battle on the subscriber may be lost - the battle on the access is just commencing.

Empowering the user is the key to higher ARPU, but is also giving up control over what the user can do.   The technology provides the canvas, larger canvas every year, and the Content providers draw on it with a wealth of ideas, colours and shapes. Content where we want it, on whatever device we want is the next challenge. When broadcast content can reach connected cars and tablets on train, and when TV feeds and smart cameras communicate among themselves and with any device, the content can choose where it goes.    
The theme for this issue of Connect-World EMEA will be: Let the Content speak for itself. Considering your unique experience, an article dealing with the theme of this issue, would be of real interest to our readers.

The demand for entertainment and real-life camera output is not abating, with 3D fuelling the appetite for moving pictures and streamed slices of life. While the global economy is groaning under pressure, and the individual purse is getting smaller - users’ demand for View-on-the-Go is still rising. Where is the magic wand to solve this conundrum?

The theme for this issue of Connect-World Latin America will will be: Moving content on the move - real life at real cost

Developments such as digital communications, digital media and the Internet are immensely powerful technological innovations. Such enabling technologies are creating amazing products and services delivered through a variety of new business models. As a result, the ICT sector is experiencing radical changes that are impacting users, companies and entire economies.  It’s been described as the most profound shift the world has ever seen. There will be winners and losers. How can companies and countries harness the power of innovation in the digital economy to ensure not only survival but future success?

The theme for Connect-World’s 2013 Global edition will be - Innovation in the Digital World.

The workplace is now changing, as employees demand the magic of smart devices to be extended to their daily business. The advent of BYOD is like a river busting its banks when suddenly everything that was restricted before becomes acceptable. Do enterprises fully appreciate the impact of BYOD and VDI? Do Operators have clear vision to understand the end-game? Will those enterprises that do not join in lose out?
The theme of this edition of Connect-World North America will be - Enterprise metamorphosis - under the influence of BYOD, VDI and Cloud.

It’s a huge market, endless possibilities - so how are the ideas materialising into real, profitable services? How M2M is exploiting existing service components? What are the business models - what will subscriber perceive as value? What is the impact on the network - is the signalling tidal wave coming?

The theme for this edition will be M2M beyond the hype.

The communications sector has changed irreversibly. The very nature of global connectivity has been transformed by the massive growth of mobile and social networking. Dominant players are losing ground to powerful new players under the impact of cloud services and smart devices. Innovative services are attracting users and generating new revenue streams. But how are these services being delivered and who benefits from the revenue generated? What scope remains available for Telecoms with its standard service delivery? Is closer cooperation required between Web service giants and Telecom to ensure a sustainable future?

The theme for this edition will be The Transformation of Service Delivery – is everything going to the web?

The issue of upgrading to IPv6 is like the climate and the environment – everyone must contribute for a global effect, everybody has to bear the cost, but the benefit is somewhat in future, to be shared by all... Running out of IP addresses is getting nearer - but are we prepared for it?

The theme for this issue will be: - The addressing problem and the IPv6 cure

Consuming media is still held back by technology. Research shows that when faster broadband is available – more is consumed, whatever the price. Content is moving into the fourth dimension too – not just 3D but also live. Social media is all about immediate visual experience… and we want more of it!

The theme for this issue will be: Faster, brighter, smarter – and we still want more…

As LTE is marching on, Satellite is getting affordable and WiFi islands provide a city-network patchwork – the world of access providers creates pipes-within-pipes in a wholesale market, while the world of applications is moving into the web sphere. How is the landscape of network providers and service providers changing with the advent of Broadband?

The theme for this issue will be: Pipes within pipes - fast lanes in the Broadband highway

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Having recently celebrated our 19th anniversary, the Connect-World series of magazines is a forum where the highest-level decision makers in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector  air their views regarding the impact of these technologies on regional and global development.
  
Connect-World publishes editions for each of the world's major regions: Africa and the Middle East, Asia-Pacific, EMEA, Europe, India, Latin America, North America and Global. 

Our authors are the people who know the ICT sector best: the leaders of industry, governments, international organisations, legal experts, bankers and their advisors. Recent non-industrial contributors include, for example: Hamadoun Toure, Secretary-General ITU, H.E. Ms Suvi Lindén, Minister of Communications, Finland and Matthias Kurth, President, Federal Network Agency for Electricity, Gas, Tele-communication, Post and Railway, Germany. Industrial contributors include, for example: Cesar Alierta, Chairman, Telefonica and Sam Palmisano, CEO, IBM and Rejeev Suri, CEO, Nokia Siemens Networks.

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