February 2004
Convergence of technology explored at technical update
A thought-provoking discussion on the convergence of technology and its impact on business and communications were among the highlights of this year's annual ORION Technical Forum, at the Nortel Networks headquarters in Brampton on February 24.
Some 60 people travelled from throughout Ontario to participate in the meeting, where the ORION user community received critical updates on the network from ORION's senior Engineering Team.
"These updates are very important. This is when we receive and share direct feedback from the users of the network's technology," said ORION Project Director Sam Mokbel.
Mokbel and his team, including Senior IP Engineer Shahid Ajaz, Senior Network Analyst Nadeem Junejo and Technical Support Specialist Tyson Vickers all gave critical operational updates, ranging from IP design issues, to NOC services and network security.
Mokbel reported that the CWDM PoP site at Sault Ste. Marie is now ready and operational, while the Timmins site should be completed by the end of March. Now that the network is virtually completed, ORION's Engineering Team and the users are now looking at the benefits and implementation of new, advanced services, such as VoIP and shared disaster recovery solutions.
The meeting was also an opportunity for ORION users to share their own experience in the deployment of the network. Laurentian University and Sheridan College both presented case studies on plans to introduce VoIP and other capabilities on their campuses, while the University of Waterloo shared its experience in bandwidth management.
Among the future network build plans, Mokbel reported that ORION is looking at the possibility of extending its fibre infrastructure in Ottawa to peer directly with Quebec's RISQ network. He said ORION is also reviewing diversity requirements and opportunities with private sector partners, and investigating connectivity to the R&E networks in Michigan and New York to provide mutual diversity and redundancy and to explore cooperative projects with their connected research and education institutions.
Nortel Networks, one of ORION's strategic partners, hosted the event at its facilities in Brampton. VP of Enterprise Sales - Canada Ron McDougall welcomed participants to the meeting, while keynote presenter, Chief Technology Officer and VP of Network Architecture for Nortel Networks Enterprise Solutions, Phil Edholm, shared his insight on the convergence of technology and the transformation of communications and business.
In a broad discussion that ranged from the cost-effectiveness of introducing VoIP solutions, to such possible advances as "neural implants", Edholm shared his outlook of the state of technology over the next five to 10 years. He predicted an explosion in the use of advanced electronic devices with a dramatic increase in "edge intelligence" as well as significant increase in the use of personal agents, which will impact the users' ability to control the data they receive and process.
Copies of the meeting presentations may be viewed at the ORION Technical Meeting web page, at http://www.orion.on.ca/members/workshops/Feb242004/index.html.
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