Network Experts, to Keynote at IEC London SOFNET 08

Chicago, Illinois - (The Hosting News) - April 1, 2008 - The International Engineering Consortium's (IEC) SOFNET 08, will present an extensive roster of industry experts, at the upcoming event this 28 April through 1 May at the Olympia National Hall in London.

Included in the keynote lineup, will be Matt Bross, CTO of BT Group; BT Wholesale CEO Sally Davis; Senior VP and GM of Oracle Communications Business Unit, Oracle, Bhaskar Gorti; Helmut Leopold, managing director of platform and technology management at Telekom Austria AG; and Andreas Mueller-Schubert, GM global solutions for Microsoft Mediaroom, Microsoft Corporation.

John Janowiak, President of IEC noted, ''This stellar lineup of keynote speakers is truly original and illustrates the balance of software and network programming designed especially for SOFNET 08.''

SOFNET 08 will discuss how next-generation services will be developed, delivered and monetized as well as provide invaluable software and hardware solutions that will result in innovation to increase speed to market of new services.

Opening Keynoter Bross commented, ''There is a shifting power equation in our industry and to unleash the capability of our global platforms we must innovate at the speed of our customers' lives rather than the speed of changing infrastructure. The debate that will take place at SOFNET is essential for the industry because broadband is becoming as important to world economies as energy has been in the past.''

The five keynote addresses are among nearly 50 world-class sessions that will address service oriented architecture; service delivery platforms; Web 2.0 service provider impacts; collaboration; service provider transformation; convergence; and more at SOFNET 08.

Mr. Gorti, commented Monday's Keynoter added, ''SOFNET attendees will learn that as the communications industry transitions to next-generation all-IP networks, productized business software built on open standards is paramount to helping service providers quickly launch new services to improve their competitiveness and deliver a superior customer experience.''

Mr. Leopold, Tuesday Keynoter noted, ''The fundamental Transformation-programme of Telekom Austria the next generation factory programme ''net@fact'' is pioneering the whole telco-industry and is based on a profit-oriented development of base products for wholesale as well as retail markets implemented on efficient product platforms. The programme's key objectives include the lowest production costs and the shortest time to market, as well as the highest flexibility for product marketing and innovation and the highest automatisation for product delivery concepts.''

The keynoters will lead more than 170 ICT and software speakers at SOFNET 08.

Mr. Davis added, ''Our industry is growing demand for software-driven, feature rich multimedia and multi-play services. SOFTNET provides a crucial platform for our industry to come together to debate how we can respond to these changing needs.''

Mr. Mueller-Schubert, Wednesday keynoter remarked, ''The transition from broadcast to connected TV is transforming the way we experience television. This presents a fantastic opportunity to the telecommunications provider community and I expect will be a key focus at SOFTNET. In many ways, Microsoft is leading the charge. The Microsoft Mediaroom multimedia and IPTV platform is gaining momentum with service providers and their customers. Today, over 20 of the world's leading telecommunications providers are delivering advanced TV services with Mediaroom. Thirteen of these service providers have launched commercial services, most in the last year. We believe 2008 will become a landmark year for connected TV so exciting times ahead for the industry.''

A nonprofit organization, the IEC is dedicated to catalyzing technology and business progress worldwide in a range of high-technology industries and their university communities. Since 1944, the IEC has provided high-quality educational opportunities for industry professionals, academics, and students.

In conjunction with industry-leading companies, the IEC has developed an extensive, free, on-line educational program. The IEC conducts industry-university programs that have a substantial impact on curricula. It also conducts research and develops publications, conferences, and technological exhibits that address major opportunities and challenges of the information age.

More than 70 leading universities are IEC affiliates, and the IEC handles the affairs of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department Heads Association and Eta Kappa Nu, the honor society for electrical and computer engineers.

To learn more, please visit: www.iec.org/events/2008/sofnet.