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David  Lassner: Exploiting Submarine Fiber: Thoughts from the Research and Education Community. Hawaii’s Internet history: home of PACCOM (bridging US and many Asian countries). We work with many countries, NREN (National research & Educational network) organizations all over the world. Two purposes: to help universities do their jobs (research and training), and to help advance this technology.

Elements of cyber-infrastructure: data collection devices, large databases, complex computational models and high-performance computing, visualization, collaboration tools–all empowered by high speed networks. None of the interesting problems can be solved by one person. Examples: remote microscopy (allowing research in other institutions that have other capabilities), Large Hadron Collider (largest scientific instrument on the planet, produces 15 petabytes of data annually), Project Touch (problem-based learning, tele-immersive 3D virtual reality sumulation, artificial intelligence models–experience enhances learning!), Hawaii sensor network (environmental monitoring), eVLBI (electronic very long baseline interferometry (radio telescopes connecting to central data processor), Hawaii’s biggest laboratory (telescopes on top of Mauna Kea, generates terabytes of data per day). Scientists using these tools are all over the world. Aloha cabled observatory: old cable, has been out of service, get turned over for research when no longer economically viable (ATT turned it over to UH for research). Techtonic plate scale ocean observatories in N.E. Pacific: building new cable, new technology, creating observatory for undersea research. We need more instruments and robots in more places! Looking at extending out to Pacific Islands to expand distance learning, develop workforce for local telecom and ICT industries, build community demand for higher speeds, enable economic development through new info- and communication-based opportunities, and support strategic research including agriculture, coral reef, environmental studies, disaster management, climate change.

George McLaughlin: More interest in funding, especially in developing areas. New undersea high-capacity networks have been fundamental. Submarine network mesh assists collaboration, advanced tools, interactive monitoring, use of massive amounts of data. Funding sources are global (e.g., TEIN3 partner countries). Asia populations: GDP, Internet growth and time zones range: GDP growth and Internet growth are substantial. Examples: Improving and saving lives: need to get critical info to right people, network-enabled collaborations help deal with immediate dangers: climate changes, sharing medical expertise. New ways that things are being done: training of surgeons with new (remote) tools. (video of remote surgery) Access to pediatric expertise working across continents (doctors in Australia consulting and operating on Vietnamese baby). Broadband-enabled dental exam chair (cleft lip and cleft palette deformities in Vietnam). We refer to this as tele-immersion: complex procedures, training, mentoring and planning, multidisciplinary, great distances. Indonesia’s forests and wildfires: these forest reserves are world’s 3rd largest, huge impact on global warming gasses. Monitoring brings critical information to emergency services and affected people. Contrasting two typhoons in Philippines: 10K casualties + 60 deaths, compared to hundreds of casualties and few deaths. Background for global data collaboration: PAGASA (Philippines) has German counterparts to drive forecasting, speedy transfer of relevant data. Many apps are run over IEEAF networks. IEEAF is a public-private partnership works with industry and academia, creates frameworks, partnerships, alliances.

Sam Thomas: (video on limited resources) Being on finance side, it’s hard to explain to engineers how limitations affect planning. Change is sweeping over industry: phenomenal traffic growth, new technology, private investors all require new business models for submarine cable systems. Three important questions: how much cash can assets generate, what’s cost of operations, what’s cost of cash? Current financial environment is unforgiving or cable operators/investors. Decline of prices will continue. An investment opportunity for investors and capable management teams (shift in market: demand now driven by how many appliances are accessed in network). Key observations: cash flow delayed or interrupted is never recovered, so cash flow must be protected (vendor management during design and contruction to meet schedule, insurance strategies and loss prevention programs during design, construction and operation to preserve cash flow and limit loss exposure). Focus on key success factors: business plan (size and system capacity to support economic life target, establish target mix of IRU/Total sales to optimize tradeoff between ROC and ROI), construction and implementation, operation (plans for restoring, insurance, loss mitigation, capacity upgrade strategy constantly reevaluated). Technology waves driving cost of bandwidth down: “Moore’s law” and accelerating expansion of cable capacity per unit of fiber (nearing 40G/wavelength, transition to 100G), incremental cost of transmission will continue to decline. (Graph: timeline and speed/wavelength). Demand outlook shows data volume is accelerating (not people talking to people, it’s people talking to machines talking to machines). A system’s lifecycle and value is determined by cash flow, including how quickly it rises, how long it stays positive, capacity limit will result in declining cash flow over time. A system’s cash flow in decline will reach zero (flow is negative while system is being built, then system is operational cash flows in from IRUs, then system capacity is turned on and is reached, and cash flow declines.) Upgrade strategies should e continuously evaluagted for cost benefit (lit capacity with original technology, with new technology, then new capacity limit reached with new technology). Doubling capacity extends economic life 5 years, increasing system value. Element of Return of Capital: time needed to fully recover original investment (see business plan for tradeoffs: how much IRUs as a function of early cash, function of IRUs vs ROC, simulations). Key conclusion: no delays or value is lost. Delays can be protected with insurance to prevent cash flow losses and preserve value of system cash flow. Cash flow protection strategies: system design, pre-sale service mix optimization, construction and implementation, and operations (outage insurance, capacity upgrade plans). Are you ready? Cash flow is value, use protection strategies, upgrades should include technology selection evaluation.
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