SCTE•ISBE: Innovating and Driving Success
Broadband Library’s wide audience makes it a great platform for sharing my thoughts as Chairman of SCTE•ISBE with all of you. I’m honored and privileged to be a part of such a great team and to be working with dedicated fellow Board members to serve every individual and Corporate Alliance Partner Program member in the United States and abroad. We believe the Society is very healthy and is exhibiting stable and upward growth. Innovations like IoT, Proactive Network Maintenance, Energy 2020 and others are critical to our industry’s growth. SCTE•ISBE’s leading-edge learning capabilities can foster career growth and help our companies cut costs and deliver value to customers. I thank you for your commitment, as well as your input into ways we can improve our service to you. I look forward to seeing you at SCTE•ISBE Cable-Tec Expo® in October!
BBL: What’s your view of SCTE•ISBE and its value to the industry?
BW:SCTE•ISBE is interwoven into the fabric of what we do as MSOs and vendors. Our networks do not run without engineers or the installers who meet with customers to deliver new technologies. We rely on our workforce to help drive implementation of new services. Our standards efforts are bringing new ideas and new ways of doing things to the industry. SCTE•ISBE is foundational to all of that.
BBL: What are the most important changes within SCTE•ISBE as the industry has evolved?
BW:What we’ve done very well is implement better ways of learning and training with our CORTEX learning system and, through programs like Energy 2020, we’re collaboratively cross-pollinating cable with executives from other industries who can help us look at the world differently. With interactive training, we can measure if an employee is really learning and deliver additional instruction in areas that need reinforcement. That is huge, what CORTEX brings to the table.
BBL: What about international growth?
BW:We’ve seen the international presence at Cable-Tec Expo growing at a rapid rate. SCTE•ISBE’s messages are reaching the far corners of the globe. We’re seeing more need for our training to be translated into multiple languages. The subject matter we’re presenting definitely is resonating with operators abroad. SCTE•ISBE has a real opportunity to grow that segment; we should strike while the iron is hot.
BBL: What is the one aspect of SCTE•ISBE that you wish the industry knew more about?
BW:That we cover more technology than just the techs climbing the poles (which is still very important!). From the gamut of SCTE standards to thought leadership like Energy 2020 to putting together practices for proactive network maintenance and recommended practices for the next generation of IoT devices, SCTE•ISBE covers a much broader breadth of technologies than is immediately evident.
BBL: What role do technology vendor partners play in SCTE•ISBE?
BW:Our vendor partners are core to the fabric of SCTE•ISBE. We shouldn’t just have them on the sidelines supporting us; they should always be actively pushing us ahead and challenging us with new technologies. What SCTE•ISBE does really well is give vendors face-to-face contact with leading decision makers through Cable-Tec Expo and other events, so that vendor partners of any size can give and receive guidance. Vendor feedback and participation is critical to the Society and the industry.
BBL: What’s ahead for SCTE•ISBE in the near term?
BW:You’ll definitely see the Society becoming much more relevant to the industry, especially now that Cable-Tec Expo is our premier conference and a focal point. With CORTEX, we’re becoming the desired training partner for service providers. Our partnership with CableLabs is making us more of a beacon to the industry; we upgird their work and help to get it ingrained in the workforce, plus we take their specifications and shepherd them through the ANSI standards process. In short, I see the Society being a healthy point of reference for everybody in the technology space.
Bill Warga
VP of Technology,
Liberty Global plc.
Bill Warga’s primary responsibilities include research and evaluation of innovative technologies in relation to Liberty Global’s business, strategic and operational objectives. With decades of broadcasting and cable experience, he serves in leadership positions across cable industry initiatives and consortiums including: Chairman of SCTE•ISBE Board of Directors, RDK Management LLC, CableLabs Technical Advisory Committee and CableLabs European CTO advisory committee. He also is on the SCTE•ISBE Foundation Board, as well as technical advisory boards of various Fortune 500 companies.
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