The network matters now like it has never mattered before – and will play a critical role in effectively addressing social inequalities and the realisation of a hyper-connected world.
This is the view of Karl Bream, Vice President and Senior Partner of Corporate Strategy, Alcatel-Lucent.
Speaking at Telkom SA’s 15th annual Southern Africa Telecommunication Networks and Applications Conference (SATNAC), Bream said that trends like urbanisation, instability of energy and climate conditions and changes in the age demographic of populations represent key considerations.
“Societal change is being driven by three mega-trends, the first of which is urbanisation. There are 2.3 billion people that will move from world living to urban living over the next several decades. This migration will create stress on infrastructures – physical and virtual, as well as the infrastructure for services. This trend will create opportunities for our industry,”
According to Bream, the second trend is energy and climate instability. The urban areas referred to drive 75% of the energy consumption of the world and produce 80% of the greenhouse gas emissions. Stress on energy, reverberates around many other sectors and industries.
“The third megatrend is one of demographics. Between now and 2015 the number of people aged 60 and above will triple. For the first time in history it will outnumber children under fifteen,” he continued.
In order for this change to take place in a positive and orderly way to benefit society, there are six key aspects that need to be factored in. This includes government policy, education, life and health, people mobility, energy and economy.
“We have an opportunity. We are at the cusp of societal change and we are in the right industry. We have challenges to get the right economic model for the network, around energy, how we deploy and how we get the right technology to meet the bandwidth demand… but we are progressing,” Bream added.
Chris Tredger, Online Editor
