Ciena Network Insights

AI is redefining what it means to be a CIO. In this episode, Bill Bragg, CIO at SymphonyAI, and Craig Williams, Chief Digital Information Officer at Ciena, dive into how AI is transforming business operations, accelerating innovation, and changing how organizations lead in the digital age.

In part two of this episode, Paulina Gomez, Ryan Lafler, Doug Schremp, and Paola Osorio delve into Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) and Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) algorithms. They discuss the principles of QKD, its challenges, and industry progress, as well as the development of PQC algorithms to deliver quantum-resistant encryption solutions. They also explore future milestones and the solutions that are available today to safeguard critical data and mitigate the quantum computing threat to enable quantum-secure communications.

In this episode, Paulina Gomez, Senior Advisor of Portfolio Marketing at Ciena, Ryan Lafler, President and CTO of Quantum Corridor, Doug Schremp, Solutions Architect at ConvergeOne, and Paola Osorio, Senior Advisor of Product Line Management at Ciena, discuss the threat of quantum computing to today's cryptography. They explore the concept of "Harvest now, decrypt later" and the importance of quantum secure communications, while also highlighting the Quantum Corridor project and its key objectives to help safeguard critical data in the quantum era.

Let's dig into the topic of AI and the data center boom! On this podcast, Ciena's International CTO Jürgen Hatheier speaks with special guest Jérôme Totel, Group Strategy & Innovation Director at Data4, a major European operator and investor in the data center market. The two discuss the critical role data centers play in AI. They cover energy demands and the importance of Power Use Efficiency, AI training and inference and how Europe can take a leading position in the AI race.

On this episode, Ciena India's Head of Engineering, Vineet Vohra and software engineers Manish Chopra and Ruby Saxena have a no holds barred conversation around their favorite work milestones, advice they would give aspiring engineers, how Artificial Intelligence is impacting their work environment and the importance of building an innovative, all-inclusive work culture. Stay tuned for an insider's view from the team that drove many of Ciena's many innovations including Navigator Network Control Suite and WaveRouter.

On this episode, Campbell McClean, Chief Architect of BT Group joins Kailem Anderson, Blue Planet's Vice President of Global Products & Delivery, to discuss the UK carrier's digital transformation journey and ways BT Group is leveraging Blue Planet software to offer an improved digital experience for its customers. The two discuss the value of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in BT Group's operations and the growing opportunities with AI moving forward. Campbell also shares his experience working in diverse organizations and the importance of fostering a more inclusive work culture.

Step behind the curtain and delve into the captivating world of product innovation in our latest episode. Join Raf Francis, Director of Product Line Management, Dan Rivaud, Systems Design Architecture Engineer, and host Gina Nienaber as they provide an in-depth look at the cutting-edge technologies and intricate design considerations that went into WaveRouter, Ciena's family of purpose-built coherent metro routers. Whether you're an aspiring innovator, a technology enthusiast, or simply curious about the inner workings of groundbreaking products, this discussion will educate and inspire.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is generating a lot of buzz with bold predictions about its transformative potential. On this podcast, Ciena's International CTO Jürgen Hatheier speaks with special guest Fánan Henriques, Director of Vodafone Business International & EU Cluster, about AI's impact on the network. They talk about ways AI can improve business productivity and explore how AI can improve network planning, operations, customer service, fault detection, security, and more. Fánan also shares some lessons learned and successes Vodafone has seen utilizing AI in its own business.

Australia is ranked as one of the world's top countries for digital readiness. On this episode, Kathryn Jones, Executive of National Infrastructure Projects at Telstra InfraCo and Ciena's Lead for the Telstra account, Matt Hayes discuss what Ciena, Ericsson and Telstra have been doing to strengthen Australia's role as a global digital hub. They also discuss Telstra InfraCo's intercity fibre network build which is currently underway to help future-proof Australia's connectivity needs for the next 20+ years.

Over the past few years, Ciena's Blue Planet division has supported Building STEPS, a nonprofit organization in Baltimore, as part of its Digital Inclusion program. Tune in for an inspiring conversation between Building STEPS' Debra Hettleman and Ciena's Beth Dolce and Beth Hunter as they dive into the ways this collaboration has sparked students' interest in the industry.

As the demand for seamless connectivity skyrockets globally, Australia is emerging as a vital digital hub. On this episode of the Ciena Insights Podcast, Jarrod Nink, Chief Operating Officer at Vocus offers an insider's perspective to how the Australian network provider is capitalizing on this surging demand for bandwidth. Nink also shares more on Vocus' dynamic collaborations with global hyperscalers and its commitment to using the very best in networking technology, elaborating on Vocus' recently announced plans to deploy Ciena's WaveLogic 6.

Ciena's Adaptive Network vision for guiding network evolution with enhanced programmability, scale, automation, and intelligence first set sail back in 2018—and it's even more relevant today with the growing presence of AI, 5G, and cloud. On this episode, Mark Bieberich, VP of Portfolio Marketing at Ciena, discusses how the Adaptive Network enables service providers to optimize their existing infrastructures while incorporating new technologies and ways of leveraging their network assets. This podcast also features Ciena customers who have embraced the Adaptive Network vision.

While we usually speak with our customers or partners on the Ciena Insights Podcast, in this special episode, we speak with Yoonee Jeong, a Senior Digital Technology Specialist with the Asian Development Bank's Digital Technology for Development Division to get a different perspective on what is driving connectivity in Asia. Yoonee also shares with us what more can be done by the public and private sectors and the impact of continued innovation.

Tune in as Chief Technology Officer, Steve Alexander gazes into his crystal ball and shares 2024 predictions on emerging technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its impact on the network. He also discusses other key technology trends, such as the relentless growth of bandwidth, IP/Optical convergence, and the evolving role of PON (Passive Optical Network) in improving residential broadband connectivity.

What a year! In 2023 we were joined by so many amazing customers, industry experts and organizations. To close out another successful year, Bo Gowan shares our most popular episodes.

In this episode, DISH Wireless' Executive Vice President of Global Partnerships, Marc Rouanne speaks with Blue Planet's Head of Portfolio & Engineering, Kailem Anderson on DISH's success in building the first cloud-native 5G network in the world and the progress they are making in enabling 5G broadband services for its customers in the United States. They also discussed the unique benefits of running on a true cloud-native network and trends in the 5G space. Blue Planet supported DISH with a dynamic real-time source of truth for its network, empowering DISH to rollout 5G services with speed and agility.

Ciena customer Cogent Communications operates one of the largest fiber-optic networks in the world, carrying around 1/4 of all internet traffic today. The ISP acquired the legacy Sprint long-haul fiber network from T-Mobile earlier this year. In this wide-ranging conversation, Cogent Founder and CEO Dave Schaeffer sits down with Ciena's CTO Steve Alexander and outlines the company's plans for the network, including a data center footprint of around 1.9 million square feet. Dave also shares his views on what it takes to build a better internet backbone and discusses wavelength services.

In 2021, Digital Promise and Ciena announced the launch of the Ciena Solutions Challenge, a global design challenge for middle and high school students to create innovative solutions that address the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals within their communities. Now entering its third year, Karissa Bowen, Senior Project Manager of Learning Experience Design at Digital Promise joins the podcast to talk with Ciena's Beth Hunter, Director of ESG Communications and Social Impact, about the impact the program has made on students around the world, while sharing inspiring stories about her experiences.

Around 65% of India's total population is below the age of 35, yet more than 50% of Indian youths are not on track to have the education and skills necessary for employment by 2030. On this podcast, Ciena International's Internal Comms Lead, Shreya Chakraborty speaks with Dr. Kiran Modi, Managing Trustee from Udayan Care, an organization that Ciena is collaborating with to fund digital inclusion initiatives in India. They discuss how we can bridge the disconnect between the demand and supply of skilled labor in India and why this is key for the country to prosper.

On this podcast, Highline's CTO Matt Hayes and Ciena's CTO of the Americas Kevin Sheehan have an insightful, wide-ranging discussion on everything from the many challenges and opportunities involved in rolling out rural broadband, to operational excellence in networking, to the great potential and worrying risks of generative AI and its machine-learning capabilities.

The demand for data traffic and connectivity has skyrocketed – especially these past few years during the pandemic. On top of this, there is greater concern about the world's climate situation. On this podcast, Geoff Pegg TELUS' Head of Sustainability and Environment and Ciena's Beth Hunter, Director of ESG Communications and Social Impact discuss ways telcos can create more sustainable networks while also meeting subscriber demands for greater connectivity.

On this episode, Dave Lewis and Amanda Molina from broadband solutions consultancy JSI join Ciena's Trey Hall and Vini Santos for a discussion about the opportunities and challenges that network operators are facing at this unique moment in the broadband market. Hear their insights on funding options, network build considerations, and why a disruptive mindset is key to long-term sustainability, monetization flexibility, scalability, and successful business outcomes.

The internet permeates everything we do today – from how we work, to how we play and learn. Yet, for some, affordability can be a problem. On this podcast,Ciena's Director, ESG Communications, speaks with Spark Skinny Jump's Lead, Martin La'a on why providing internet access can be a gamechanger for students and how Ciena and Spark are collaborating to create positive repercussions in the community.

This episode features Lumen's CTO Andrew Dugan and Ciena's Steve Alexander. The two industry veterans discuss Lumen's recent 400GE network enhancements and how wavelengths enable Lumen customers to modernize and scale their Core Digital Network so that their data, applications, and workloads can be distributed securely between their IT instances residing in data centers and public cloud. In addition, they discuss ways Lumen is uniquely positioned to help enterprises modernize their network infrastructure and what customers are looking for from a Digital Experience standpoint.

On this episode Kate Mace and Chin Guok from the DOE's Energy Sciences Network along with Stanford's Amadeo Perazzo discuss ESnet6 with Ciena's Rod Wilson. ESnet6 will enable scientists to significantly advance their ability to gain insight from massive datasets produced by experiments that use large scale instruments like genome sequencers, telescope observatories, X-ray light sources and particle accelerators, among many others.

Did you know that around 95% of the world's intercontinental communications traffic is carried over submarine cable networks? What's more, our need for connectivity shows no signs of abating. According to research firm TeleGeography, capacity along the transatlantic corridor alone is forecast to grow by about 77 times between 2015 and 2028. Simply mind-boggling! On this podcast, industry veterans Ed McCormack and Brian Lavallée look back at some of the important milestones in submarine network history and envisage what the future might hold.

800G and beyond, 5G, Greener Network solutions and Submarine buildouts. Host Bo Gowan talks with Ciena CTO Steve Alexander, and Submarine/5G expert Brian Lavallée about the key tech trends and predictions that will shape the industry in 2023.

Ciena's executives were joined by many amazing guests throughout 2022. For our final episode of the year, Bo Gowan, Ciena's social media director and today's host, highlights some of our most listened to podcasts of the year. Tune in to see if your favorite episode was included!

Service providers are tasked with the challenge of decreasing carbon emissions while also meeting surging demands for high-bandwidth services and broadband connectivity. On this podcast, euNetworks' Tetyana Mozhayeva, Senior Director of Sustainability and Ciena's Beth Hunter, Director of ESG and Social Impact, join host Sara Atkinson to discuss the importance of working toward a more sustainable network architecture. Tetyana shares ways that the Network Construction Carbon Calculator developed by euNetworks has helped to assess the impact of network construction projects and provide transparency around the emissions impact of euNetworks' solutions.

Everything from home (work, play, game), along with new bandwidth-hungry cloud-based applications, have ignited investments to help build a digital future for all. On this podcast, Rebecca Smith highlights three of our previous episodes about ways we are helping improve residential broadband and driving digital inclusion. We hear from rural electric co-op, Cullman Electric; tech futurist, Shivvy Jervis; and STEM evangelist from Academy Achievers, Paulette Watson.

The unprecedented demand for bandwidth across the globe has necessitated a different way of thinking when building fiber networks. Operators can no longer silo traffic on multiple, disparate networks and remain profitable. Join Omdia's Jaimie Lenderman and INCA's Rob Leenderts as they explore market insights and the benefits of building a single, efficient architecture that can support multiple services simultaneously to unlock revenue potential.

On this podcast, we speak with NEXTDC's Chief Customer and Commercial Officer, David Dzienciol, about Australia's cloud and data center environment. The conversation includes current drivers of data center growth in Australia, how enterprises and the public sector are coping with the necessities of hybrid IT plus how the tyranny of distance and the emergence of new industries such as space and renewable energy are driving unique customer requirements for bespoke hosting, edge infrastructure and network services. We also cover NEXTDC's view on the critical role DCs play in holistic sovereignty and security risk management, the tightening supply chain environment and the war for talent.

On this podcast, Jürgen Hatheier, Ciena's Chief Technology Officer for EMEA and APJ, catches up with Altibox Carrier's CEO Svein Arild Ims and CTO Øyvind Espedalen to learn about their latest innovations—including achieving a record-breaking 800G over 1100 kilometers, between Amsterdam and Copenhagen—and being the FIRST provider to achieve 800G over a submarine link across its NO-UK cable. They also discuss Norway's potential as a data center hub.

The pandemic launched organizations into a new world of work. Overnight, organizations had to accelerate their digital transformation strategies to maintain business as usual in a world of remote work and social distancing. On this podcast, Zayo's CIO, Ginna Raahauge joins Ciena's Craig Williams to discuss some of the key challenges and opportunities presented by ‘digital transformation'. They also discuss some of the emerging technologies, skills and implementation strategies CIOs are faced with today.

Have you ever wondered what the difference is between a data center and the cloud? Or why a data center would be housed underground? Then join Iron Mountain's Frank Scalzo as he demystifies the top misunderstandings about modern data centers. Also hear Frank share insights on DCI—the technology that data centers use to talk to each other—and Iron Mountain's approach to data center interconnection.

What's driving today's wireless industry? Ciena customer American Tower shares insights on all things wireless—5G, O-RAN, edge cloud, IoT, AR/VR and more—from the perspective of a telecom tower company. Also hear about a recent private 5G proof of concept conducted by American Tower and Ciena.

Academy Achievers aims to empower and motivate underserved students to explore careers within the world of STEM. Special guest Paulette Watson, Founder and Managing Director of Academy Achievers, talks with Ciena's Sara Atkinson to discuss ways that we can help close the educational gap in STEM fields and encourage students to explore careers in tech

Ciena's podcast featured several customers, industry leaders, and subject matter experts throughout the year. Tune in to hear some clips of your favorite episodes that feature topics like 5G, software automation, digital transformation, and the network edge.

Whether it be 5G, the network edge, or the metaverse, 2021 brought a lot of technological advancements. In this episode, Steve Alexander, Ciena's Chief Technology Officer, Jürgen Hatheier, Ciena's Chief Technology Officer EMEA & APJ, and Craig Williams, Ciena's Chief Information Officer, discuss what surprised them the most in 2021, and what they expect to see in 2022.

The network is becoming a critical enabler in customers' digital transformation journeys and forcing organizations in every industry to rework their business strategies. On this special episode, Zayo's Dennis Kyle joins Steve Alexander to share insights on the role digital transformation plays in today's virtual world.

What's driving innovation at the edge of the network? Tune in to hear what exactly is meant by 'the edge,' what next-gen metro and edge networks will look like, the role software automation will play, and more.

How will AI advance the way our networks roll out 5G, Industry 4.0, IoT and other exciting services that users demand today? Tune into this podcast to hear Colt's Francesca Serravalle join Rick Hamilton of Blue Planet to shed light on new opportunities where AI is making an impact.

While it is no secret that many rural communities across the world lack connectivity, many do not realize the role innovative cooperative utility companies play in addressing this issue. Hear Mark Freeman of Cullman Electric Cooperative discuss the exciting impact of deploying broadband in their community.

Whether you are working from home, learning remotely, or simply wanting to watch a sporting event online, having reliable connectivity is key. Spark New Zealand's Jan Jager, Principal Solution Architect joins Ciena's Matt Syme and Dave Boertjes to discuss ways service providers are using intelligent software tools to drive network efficiencies and ensure connectivity - even during unexpected events, fiber cuts or natural disasters.

To keep up with the fast-pace of mobile experiences like gaming, cloud services and 5G, Singapore-based M1 is transforming its network with software. Hear M1's Nathan Bell talk with the Blue Planet team about ways that software automation coupled with a customer-centric approach will drive the next wave of innovation.

What are the biggest challenges facing security professionals as more people use their home networks for remote work? In this episode, Andy Bonillo, Ciena's Chief Information Security Officer, and Marc Goodman, Global Security Advisor and futurist, discuss ways businesses can tackle new security challenges as more people work remotely.

The digital divide is a global concern that has continued to grow with the increased reliance on the network and digital connectivity due to COVID-19. With billions of people around the world lacking connectivity, what can we do to close the gap? In this episode, Ciena's Chief Technology Officer, Steve Alexander, is joined by award-winning Human Potential Expert and Futurist, Shivvy Jervis, to discuss the implications and challenges that the digital divide has created for human growth and potential.

Algonquin's state-of-the art Optophontics Lab offers real-world experiences to students and uses the same tech that powers internet traffic for telecom and content providers around the world. In this episode, Claude Brulé and Dr. Almuhtadi share how the partnership with Ciena gives students a leg-up in finding a career in technology.

From virtual reality headsets that take your mind to a beautiful landscape while your body is in the doctor's chair to having multiple doctors in disparate locations analyze your x-ray results in real-time, the healthcare industry is undergoing a transformation. In this episode, Unitas‘ Mary Stanhope and Loudon Blair take a deep dive into the shifts we're seeing in telehealth and how current network and cloud infrastructures are adapting to power telemedicine and virtual and augmented reality applications.

Are you curious how service providers across Asia keep up with their digitally-savvy end users? Vodafone's Nadya Melic and IDC's Nikhil Batra discuss with Anup Changaroth of Ciena tips on how to be resilient and connected today.

In this podcast we revisit some of Steve Alexander's 2020 predictions and Joe Madden from Mobile Experts joins to discuss how Covid-19 has forced the world to rely on the network for remote work, school, entertainment and more. What will it mean for the future of 5G, Edge Cloud and connectivity in general?