It's a year of anniversaries for the SCTE - 50th for the organization as a whole, and 10 years for Mark Dzuban as president and CEO.
The SCTE has long been known for its dedication to the field technician, the supporter of the worker on the pole, as evidenced by its popular Cable-Tec Games. But under Dzuban's leadership, and with the support of the cable industry as a whole, the SCTE has also become known as the applied sciences arm of the industry.
"(SCTE) is about how to implement and operate networks. CableLabs is about futuristic (technology), we are the implementer, and NCTA is the government arm. We rebuilt the organization to meet these objectives, and ended up with a mission (statement) that (says we) accelerate the deployment of science and technology to the advantage of the industry," Dzuban said.
One of the components to the change was to add a CTO to the SCTE to add technical expertise, and another has been strengthening relationships between the SCTE, CableLabs, the NCTA and other industry organizations such as the Cable Center and WICT. As a result, the annual Cable-Tec Expo has become more of a community event, with significant participation by other partners, Dzuban said.
The 2018 Expo in Atlanta had a record number of technical speakers - 105 - and was host to 48 workshops. Dzuban said the 50th anniversary celebration in 2019, which will be in New Orleans from Sept. 30 to Oct. 3, will highlight the collaboration. He noted, for example, that the SCTE and CableLabs are working on some interesting preconference activities.
From a learning and development perspective, the SCTE has expanded its category of courses, instituted leadership institute programs with Dartmouth/Tuck and Georgia Tech/Scheller, in conjunction with ISBE, and is looking forward to aligning with CableLabs on 10G.
"Cablelabs works with (operators and vendors) on innovation. We support technical operations and implementation," Dzuban said. "Out of the specifications (we) drive operational best practices … how to deploy (the technology), implement training … and (certify) the workforce."
The SCTE also has been working on expanding alliances internationally, with organizations including ANGA Jornadas, Andina Link, and the Society of Broadband Engineers. The international ISBE brand was created, and new SCTE chapters opened in South and Central America. In 2018, more than 60 countries were represented at Expo, and the SCTE has been involved with the translation of its content in an effort to make it more accessible globally.
Just this past December, the SCTE was awarded its first patent, which was related to the Adaptive Power System Interface Standard (APSIS) and in line with the Energy 2020 initiative. A competition was held to look at the different ways the patent could be applied. There were 20 participants with two categories. SOFC.nl, a project initiated by Liberty Global for a power solution using small SOFC fuel cells, was one winner, while Teleste took the other prize for a solution that would reduce power usage in the amplifier modules.
Next year, the SCTE will redefine the program (the update currently has the working title "Energy 2025"). They will continue to look at ways to manage power beyond energy efficiency and into network reliability, edge powering, and the aging power distribution network.