By: Daniel Mowinski - Pipeline
Many of you are gearing up for Digital Transformation World (DTW) Ignite 2024 in Copenhagen, Denmark, taking place June 18-20. Others are thinking about going; some perhaps don’t even know what it is. Whatever your plans, this article will give you a comprehensive overview of the event to organize your trip, or help you decide whether it’s worth going to in the first place.
This is TM Forum’s third year in Copenhagen, after a long residency in Nice, France, and an attempt to continue its year-over-year attendance, which reached 4,000 people in 2023.
Growth and innovation are the self-avowed themes of the event. Yet DTW 2024 faces a significant task. Can it cut through the hype to demonstrate the true potential of technologies like AI, Open APIs, intelligent networks, and the like? Can the myriad innovations under discussion help leaders build effective telco-to-techco evolution roadmaps and do more than simply cut costs? In an industry often seen as stagnant, these will be the key questions for many attendees.
There will be ample time to explore such topics at the many networking opportunities at DTW 2024. There are discussion sessions, themed lounges, and VIP areas, to name a few examples. The Executive Connect program gives C-level executives and senior leaders private networking opportunities. If in doubt, consult the dedicated networking app.
Presentations and keynotes cover all aspects of the telecoms ecosystem at the CSP, enterprise, and consumer levels. Specific topics set to (quite literally) take center stage include the practical implementations of AI, the creation of new organizational “DNA” in line with emerging tech, scaling AI for maximum impact, and network optimization based on core technologies like 5G, edge computing, automation, and, you guessed it, AI.
The plethora of keynotes and sessions will take place against a backdrop of exhibits, proof-of-concept catalysts, networking opportunities, and a multi-challenge hackathon.
TM Forum CEO Nik Willet will open DTW 2024 on the Studio Stage with a welcome address on the topic of preparing for growth. As part of the same session, a keynote panel of leading CTOs and CTIOs will outline their visions for telco evolution.
Powering into the main event, DTW 2024 has five tracks on the main stages A to E and the Studio and Impact stages: AI in Action, Amplifying Intelligent Networks, Growth Powerplays, Unleash the AI-native DNA, and Composable IT: The Superpower.
For the AI in Action track, DTW 2024 goes deep into practical strategies for leveraging AI and data. It includes high-level sessions that look at the broad potential of AI for CSPs, such as the keynote “AI Amplified: Unleashing Scalability for Impact” from CIO Jaime Tatis of TELUS.
In addition, there are demonstrations of more granular applications like intelligent automation and personalization, for example, “Revolutionizing Operations: Unveiling the Cutting-Edge LLMOps/ FMOps Ecosystem at Booking.com” from Sanchit Juneja of Booking.com.
5G, AI, edge computing, and network automation are all explored as part of the Amplifying Intelligent Networks track. Detail is the key word here, and case studies and practical demonstrations dominate this track. Adedoyin Adeola, Chief Engineering Officer at Airtel, is headlining on the Impact Stage as part of the session “Profitable Connectivity and Beyond: Evolving Network Capabilities.” His focus will be on unlocking telecommunications profitability for Africa, one of the world’s fastest-growth telecoms markets.
The Growth Powerplays track examines collaboration as a tool for growth. It focuses on platform readiness and the role of partner ecosystems in the digital marketplace.
Kevin Lee, CDO of BT Group, will deliver a keynote titled “Unlocking Growth Potential by Accelerating Innovation with Open APIs.” Among other points, he will explain how Open APIs can drive expansion into non-connectivity services.