Ciena Network Insights

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.