Keynote Presents Third Network as Stimulus For Businesses to Leverage Global Success of Carrier Ethernet

WASHINGTON, Nov. 18, 2014 — (PRNewswire) — Over the course of the next three days MEF GEN14 ( GEN14.com) will host the largest gathering of Carrier Ethernet, SDN, NFV, optical, and cloud service expert speakers ever assembled in North America. On the first day, Bob Metcalfe, Ethernet Inventor and University of Texas Professor of Innovation, will be delivering a compelling keynote on the future of innovation along with Nan Chen, President of the MEF and Mark Halbfinger, CEO, PCCW Global.

Earlier this year, Bob Metcalfe and Nan Chen launched the Third Network vision that delivers Internet-like agility and ubiquity with CE 2.0 performance and security. GEN14 will demonstrate how the industry is embracing this vision and network paradigm, and will launch with a strong message about adopting a new vital spirit of cooperation between academia, government and business. The big question will be - If the Internet was able to revive even a spark of the enlightenment spirit that launched the industrial and technological revolutions, what greater stimulus might the Third Network present?

The live Proof of Concept (PoC) showcase will be the focal point of the GEN14 event and will give a glimpse into how the Third Network in action can empower innovation and create endless business opportunities for service providers. The showcase features leading-edge implementations of dynamic cloud-centric services with SDN, NFV, automated provisioning, service orchestration, and other innovations.

Showcase participants include: Allstream, Tata Communications, Amartus, Transition Networks, CenturyLink, Ciena, Cyan, Oracle, InfoVista: WebNMS, Omnitron Systems, VeEX.

GEN14 represents an extraordinary opportunity to engage with nearly 115 world-class expert speakers and hundreds of other attending professionals who are shaping the future of global networking.  Registrants from more than 325 organizations from 36+ countries plan to attend the event.

GEN14's 110 sponsors and event partners include: Comcast, Verizon, AT&T, Cox Business, Lumos Networks, PCCW Global, Tata Communications, XO, Cisco, Ericsson, Juniper Networks, Ciena, Fujitsu Network Communications, Oracle, and many more.

Driving innovation is the key theme of GEN14 on every level and another highlight of GEN14 to be unveiled by Bob Metcalfe will be the launch of a competition to identify the next generation of cloud computing leaders. The competition will spotlight the best innovators looking for their first A round financing to develop their ideas, as well as the players who need their B/C funding to drive products, solutions and go-to-market releases.

"GEN14 will fuel innovation, challenge thinking and nurture new up and coming ideas. The 1,000 plus MEF GEN14 attendees have the opportunity to witness first hand, collaborating implementations of what is possible in the world of service delivery to business users. With an exciting line up of expert speakers, GEN14 will inspire the industry to build on the great work of CE 2.0 and accelerate the uptake of the Third Network vision," says Nan Chen, President of the MEF.

About the MEF:
The MEF is the defining body and driving force behind the global market for Carrier Ethernet. MEF's flagship work is CE 2.0, including specifications, operational frameworks, certification programs for services, equipment and professionals (MEF-CECP 2.0). An industry alliance consisting of more than 225 member organizations, the MEF operates through a powerful collaborative framework of service providers, network solutions suppliers to achieve its CE 2.0 development and globalization objectives. 

Building on thirteen years of success and widespread adoption of CE 2.0, MEF is now focused on defining Lifecycle Service Orchestration with APIs for existing network, NFV and SDN implementations enabling Agile, Assured and Orchestrated Network as a Service. 

For more information about the MEF please visit  www.MetroEthernetForum.org 

Third Network: http://metroethernetforum.org/third-network/overview 

About MEF's GEN14 Event:
The MEF will be showcasing its Third Network vision, including Proof of Concept demonstrations, at the industry-wide Global Ethernet Networking 2014 (GEN14) event taking place on 17 – 20 November 2014 in Washington, DC. GEN14 is the must-attend networking event of the year for professionals involved in the CE services & technology industry. GEN14 will bring together 115 CE, SDN, NFV, and Cloud expert speakers from across the globe.

GEN14 currently has more than 1,050 conference registrants representing 350+ companies and organizations from 36 countries. This includes professionals from retail, wholesale, and mobile service providers; data center providers; cloud service providers; mid to large businesses; government and defense organizations; utilities; network technology vendors; press; analysts and investors. For GEN14 registration and other information, see  www.gen14.com.

SOURCE MEF

Contact:

MEF Media Contacts: USA & International PR contact: Hannah Whitrow, Zonic Group PR Email Contact +44 7760 806 070, EMEA: UWE Scholz, Zonic PR EMEA Email Contact +49 172 3988 114, Asia Pacific: Shirley Yeh, Zonic PR Asia Email Contact +86 21 321 00018 Web: http://www.MetroEthernetForum.org