Published: June 26th, 2019

Last week, CENGN was thrilled to host the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) for an IEEE Lunch and Learn! Guests soaked in the “Status of the Internet in Canada and the Importance of Canadian IXPs”, participating in discussions lead by presenter Jacques Latour, CTO at the Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA).

The IEEE is an organization focused on creating an environment where its 423,000 members from around the world can put their heads together to collaborate on the groundbreaking, leading-edge technologies of computing, sustainable energy systems, aerospace, communications, robotics, healthcare and more. By organizing conferences, professional and educational activities, as well as producing technology standards, and highly cited publications, the IEEE works to foster innovation for a better tomorrow.

Lunch and learns are put on by the IEEE Ottawa Section to zero in on the Ottawa community and bridge the city’s gap between industry, academia, and government! Every month, a speaker from one of these three groups visits the heart of the Kanata Tech Hub to give a technical seminar. Discussion topics never failed to capture the audience’s attention, with past subjects ranging from autonomous networks, the rise of the industrial drone, Internet of Things (IoT), and RF technology for 5G cellular base stations.

This time, the lunch and learn delved into the importance of internet exchange points (IXP) for Canada! An IXP is a physical location in which Internet infrastructure companies and Canadians connect, allowing network providers to share transit outside their own network. Having a presence inside of an IXP location has a lot of great advantages for Canadian companies including shortening their path to the transit coming from other participating networks, reducing latency, improving round-trip time, and potentially reducing costs.

Missed the event? Check out the video of the full presentation!

CENGN was so thrilled to provide its venue for the coming together of this event, and with a sold out showing, we knew everyone was excited to have the opportunity to learn something new about Canadian IXPs and the current status of our nation’s Internet! It is important for CENGN to host discussions like this to provide a common place for our ecosystem of industry, academia, and government to mix, mingle, and learn. Doing so continues to foster collaboration in our communities and a sharing of information that will help strengthen the ICT sector leading to economic prosperity for all.

Didn’t have the chance to make it to this event? Check out where CENGN will be next by clicking the button below!

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About the Author

CENGN, Canada’s Centre of Excellence in Next Generation Networks, drives technology innovation and industry growth through our testbed, technical expertise, talent development, and partner ecosystem. Through our projects, CENGN enables small and medium Canadian Enterprises to test and validate promising technologies, removing barriers to product commercialization and accelerating market growth.

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