In one way or another, each of the articles in this issue is a reflection of the impact you as information and communications technology (ICT) professionals have on the industry you serve, as well as on the world as a whole. The fact that the articles address several different topics is a testament to the wide-ranging impact you have. Let’s take a closer look.
Our cover story, highlighting the intelligent and sustainable systems through the Hotel Marcel, is a showcase of the critical role ICT infrastructure plays in the future of buildings. Read the article to understand the depths of importance that cabling will bring to the intelligent properties of the future. Hotel Marcel is just the beginning for this smart-building trend.
The article contributed by the Fiber Broadband Association, describing its OpTIC Path program, underscores the need for many more fiber-optic installation professionals than we currently have in the profession. Fiber can be considered the single most important piece in the United States’ ambition to connect each of its citizens to the internet. And I know it’s trite to say it, but that fiber does not connect itself. Even with several manufacturers developing products and tools to de-skill the process, thereby not requiring an extremely high skillset or long years of experience in order to work with fiber, the task of installing fiber still requires skilled, competent workers. Those installing the systems that will fulfill the country’s Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program will anonymously change the world. That is truly an honorable calling.
The article describing 5 ways to reduce the carbon impact of technologies used in smart buildings, is as timely as it has ever been. Going hand-in-hand with the Hotel Marcel success story, this article delivers prescriptive steps that can be taken across the entire ICT value chain to minimize the environmental impact of everything we do. I like to think I’m a realist, and look at this article accordingly. Can you, as a designer, installer, or user of ICT systems, do anything about the fact that cables you work with contain PFOAs? No, you cannot. But others can, and should. Additionally, there are steps you can take, such as the use of open architecture, that can enable the reduction of carbon impact in the buildings in which that architecture is deployed. You may have more opportunities than you realize to have the kind of impact you want to have.
And the article contributed by AFL’s Manja Thessin discusses humans’ insatiable appetite for information. More to the point, it describes how connectivity throughout the entire networking ecosystem comes as close to satisfying that appetite as we can hope to get. The human experience is enabled by this connectivity.
Your professional skills and practices enhance the world. Of that you should be proud.
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