This is Going to be HUGE
By Mark L. Dzuban
Forgive my enthusiasm, but I’ve had a hard time controlling my excitement ever since our SCTE membership voted in favor of combining our organization with CableLabs at the end of last year. I’m thinking of what this does for our Society, our members and the industry, and I’m thinking BIG.
For decades, SCTE and CableLabs have co-existed like two stars within the cable universe, circling and complementing each other. When an overwhelming 86% of member voters endorsed our becoming a subsidiary of CableLabs last December, it opened up a wealth of opportunities. In an era when cable is extending its technological lead with the advent of the 10G platform and its associated applications, optimizing the combined resources of SCTE and CableLabs will accelerate on a global scale our ability to turn promises into reality. Here’s how:
First and foremost, for SCTE individual members, this combination unfurls limitless new possibilities. New training, learning, development and certification programs. Collaboration on the technologies that are taking us into the future. Enhancement of career opportunities that benefit both our members and the companies for which they work. For our members — and the industry — it will be SCTE and CableLabs on steroids.
For SCTE and CableLabs, this deal is uniquely crafted to bring SCTE and CableLabs all of the advantages of being under a single corporate structure, while preserving the management, the culture and the independence of both. My team and I will remain in place, will be driving an expanded menu of programs, and will be building on our shared engineering expertise to create better, smarter, faster responses to industry opportunities.
For the industry, removing the silos that have existed between SCTE and CableLabs will unleash a torrent of innovation, technology development and standards that will continue to extend cable’s influence across the broader technology landscape. By leveraging on a global scale all of the elements in our combined portfolio — including strategic, technical and operational resources, member and vendor relationships — and by optimizing our aggregated subject matter expertise and resources, our organizations are exponentially increasing value that will be delivered across the industry.
The need for member engagement
Here’s the key, though: We need every SCTE member to embrace the possibilities if we are going to make the most of this new relationship. This ability to work more directly with our peers at CableLabs will give SCTE members more influence than ever in the activities that will impact and improve the fortunes of our industry. Here are some ways that can happen:
- Greater Access — The union of SCTE and CableLabs extends availability of training and certification to members of both organizations, enabling increased acquisition of skills that can enhance careers and build value.
- Greater Alignment — While we’ve made great strides in the past decade to ensure that SCTE programs are in sync with CableLabs innovation, formal ties will increase the cooperative efforts that are needed to enhance learning and development, as well as standards creation.
- Greater Reach — The international expansion that SCTE has undertaken through its ISBE brand will accelerate under the new structure, enabling new opportunities for members to collaborate with technical professionals around the world.
As we’ve proven in recent years, SCTE delivers the greatest value to its members when we are in step with the industry’s needs and technical roadmaps. As we continue to spearhead entry into new areas — the fertile grounds that are being tilled by our SCTE Standards Explorer initiative, the next stages of our energy program, and disaster recovery and business continuity — it is more important than ever that the lines of communication be as direct as possible.
Optimizing the value of SCTE
When my counterpart at CableLabs, Phil McKinney, and I began discussions with our teams and our boards earlier this year, optimizing that value was on both of our minds. We talked about how together we could bring 10G and all of the applications associated with it — telehealth, telemedicine, aging in place, AI/ML and more — to life.
As I recall, we both left those early meetings wondering why we hadn’t done this sooner, but the reality is that the building blocks have been coming together for some time. The sharpening of SCTE’s mission to be the industry’s leading applied science organization, the forging of closer partnerships with NCTA and CableLabs, and our collaboration in aligning training to expedite the rollout of DOCSIS® 3.1 all provided glimpses into what could be.
I also recall that we both recognized the importance of striking a deal that preserves the unique characteristics of both organizations. SCTE’s rich history as a grass roots organization has spawned a tradition of members helping members that has helped to advance the technical professionalism of the industry. This includes:
- Continuation of SCTE as the industry’s ANSI-accredited standards body, a 25-year relationship that everybody agrees is in the best interest of the industry;
- Continued focus on SCTE’s 70 chapters as pivots of knowledge sharing and networking on a regional level; and
- Continued global expansion of Cable-Tec Expo®, the largest cable telecommunications and technology show in the Americas.
We make change happen
Ever since I joined SCTE a little more than a decade ago, I’ve been impressed with the support we’ve received from members as we’ve tackled new opportunities. Executive Leadership programs with Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business and Georgia Tech’s Scheller College of Business. A groundbreaking Energy 2020 program that has given operators great control over power costs and consumption. And this year, the rapid transformation of Cable-Tec Expo from a live event to a highly acclaimed “Virtual Experience.”
In every case, we’ve done what good engineering professionals do: We’ve evaluated the options, pursued what’s made sense and course corrected as needed along the way to achieve our objectives. We’ve lived our careers in an industry that’s continually reinvented itself; every day we’ve risen to face a different challenge. And in tackling those challenges, we’ve created new opportunities.
Watching CableLabs innovate is like looking into a mirror. Under Phil’s leadership, they’ve reimagined a future with cable as the hub. Their “Near Future” films show what’s ahead thanks to the ubiquity of cable broadband. As a member of Phil’s executive team, one of my jobs will be to make sure that our members have a chance to help make that vision a reality.
On the CEO panel at Cable-Tec Expo Virtual Experience last year, Comcast Cable’s Dave Watson told our global audience that cable doesn’t wait for opportunities; we create them. That’s what this combination of SCTE and CableLabs is: an opportunity we’ve created for our organizations, for our industry and without a doubt for our members to effect massive change in the way people live, work and play.
I’m jumping in with both feet. I know with the support and enthusiasm of our members, this is going to be HUGE.
Mark L. Dzuban
President/CEO, SCTE
Mark Dzuban is president and CEO of SCTE, a global not-for-profit member organization driving the acceleration and deployment of technology in the cable industry. With a career spanning more than 50 years, Dzuban has been named a Cable TV Pioneer and Cable Center Innovation Laureate, and received the Vanguard Award for Cable Operations Management. Since joining SCTE, Dzuban has transformed the organization into the industry’s applied science leader and has expanded its training, standards, and energy management programs.
