Click on the Video Below and Sample a Session from the last Digital Hollywood event. For Additional Video Sessions, Click Here Digital Hollywood Fall 2006 Thursday, October 26 12:50 PM - 2:00 PM Track III: Telcos, IPTV & the Technology Food Chain: From the Broadband Infrastructure to the Headend, ITV Services and the Set-Top The technology behind the introduction of the IPTV system provides a unique group of products and services. In this session we will take a look at the entire foodchain of hardware and software that is being developed in this rollout. From the broadband technology that connects the global networks and the home, the headend servers and services to the set-top options, the IPTV system will have access into millions of homes. IPTV may well become the broadband backbone to the entire country. In this session we will find out what that future looks like and what it will take to make it happen. Sam Pemberton, CEO & President of Softel-USA Josette Bonte, Vice President, Content and IPTV, Ovum Gianluca Ferremi, Video and Media Worldwide Business Manager, Sun Microsystems Hemang Mehta, Product Management Director, Microsoft TV Gary Sasaki, President, digdia Ken Pyle, co-founder, Viodi, LLC, Moderator Gianluca Ferremi, Video and Media Worldwide Business Manager, Sun Microsystems: With a bachelors degree in Information Science from the University of Torino, and a Masters in Information Technology and Telecommunications from the Polytechnic University of Torino, Mr. Ferremi relocated to America to work as member of the technical staff of a telecommunications start-up. Mr. Ferremi joined Sun Microsystems in the spring of 1998, and worked from their Paris office as a pre-sales systems engineer. From 1999 to mid 2005, Mr. Ferremi has covered the position of Business Development Manager for Broadband and DTV for the EMEA region. Since October 2006, working from Sun's Barcelona office, Mr. Ferremi is Business Manager for the Video and Media worldwide market for Sun Microsystems. Josette Bonte, Vice President, Content and IPTV, Ovum: Josette Bonte has more than 20 years experience at the confluence of the media and telecommunications industries. For 12 years, she worked in the film and television production and distribution industries, and spent 10 years in new media and telecommunications, where she was at the forefront of introductions of content distribution by both wireline and satellite operators. Josette has served as Executive Director of Unifrance Film, where she represented the French motion picture and television industry in Hollywood. She founded EuroScreen Partners, a film production company. Most recently she served as Senior Vice President, Business Development, for online games company Media Station Inc., where she headed the technology licensing and broadband affiliate relations department. Josette received an M.F.A from the UCLA School of Film and Television and a Ph.D. in Telecommunications and New Media from the Sorbonne. Hemang Mehta is a Product Management Director with Microsoft TV, focused on software solutions designed to enable telecommunications and cable companies to deliver audio and video services to consumers using their Internet Protocol networks. In this role Mehta drives the overall strategy and vision for Microsoft TV’s IPTV products, and is responsible for the group defining product positioning, packaging, pricing, research and product rollout plans. He works closely with customers and partners to ensure that the Microsoft TV solution provides superior value and enables a profitable business. Prior to joining Microsoft, in December 2003, Mehta spent 3 years with Nokia where he was the global head of the Nokia Broadband Media Solution for the fixed line operators delivering audio and video services over DSL. In this role he has worked with most of the major global telecom companies, understanding their concerns and ensuring that they could deploy a video solution. Mehta has also held positions at Oracle, where he was responsible for all marketing and sales activities for Oracle’s Interactive Television Division for EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa). Within the EMEA region the Oracle Video Server held a dominant market share with Telecoms, Cable Companies and Satellite Video delivery systems. During the initial period of his tenure in a product management role he was responsible for launching several major releases of the Oracle Video Server. In the early part of his career, Mehta worked at nCUBE designing file systems and video servers for the nCUBE ‘s massively parallel supercomputers. Mehta has a bachelor’s degree in Electronic Engineering and Digital Communications and a Masters Degree in Computer Engineering. Past Events: Broadband World Forum Asia 2006; Communic Asia Summit (June 2006). Gary Sasaki, President, digdia: Gary has been involved in the digital consumer electronics industry, plus various parts of its value chain for over ten years. Areas have included digital imaging/video, digital media, digital displays, digital cinema, digital cable, audio/video networking, telematics, and handheld products. Some of the places that Gary has spoken or done work include Samsung, Philips, Siemens, Bain & Co., CABA, Pepperdine University, Santa Clara University, IBDNetwork, and SDForum. Gary is also an analyst for The Diffusion Group. Prior to forming DIGDIA, Gary had 30 years experience with Hewlett Packard, including 10 years in HP Labs as a Strategic Business Development manager responsible for finding and helping to initiate new billion dollar businesses in the digital consumer electronics value chain space. HP Labs offered a rich mix of cutting edge technology and a central point to work with any HP business division or outside company. Before HP Labs, Gary was an HP division R&D Manager leading over 100 professionals working on three separate product lines, each #1 in their market worldwide. Other positions include Product Marketing and Project Management. He received his BSEE/CS from the University of California, Berkeley; attended the Brookings Institution, and had other coursework in Stanford and HP. Gary is an officer in the IEEE Consumer Electronics Society Santa Clara Valley chapter, and member of CEA, SCTE and SMPTE. Sam Pemberton is President & CEO of California company Softel-USA, and as such is responsible for creating the vision and strategic direction for the company. Having worked for the UK-based Softel Group, in a number of pivotal strategic roles, Sam span off Softel-USA in 2001 to dedicate his energy to the Americas. Since start-up Softel-USA’s XDS division has become the de facto supplier of caption and XDS preparation technology for North America, as well as a leading supplier of transmission equipment to that sector. Meanwhile, Softel-USA’s iTV division has established a reputation for offering robust, reliable and yet visionary systems to the interactive television market. Sam holds Bachelor degrees in Computer Science and in Economics from Manchester (England) and an MBA from Reading (England). Having opened Softel-USA's Atlantic office in 2003, he lives in Darien, CT with his wife and son. Ken Pyle is co-founder of Viodi, LLC and is Managing Editor of the Viodi View, an online newsletter with a focus on independent telcos and their efforts to offer video services. He produced the Video Solutions for Independence interactive CD-ROM, edited and produced interactive CD-ROMs for organizations such as NTCA and is the co-producer of the IP Video Conference series in conjunction with USTA and is producer of Viodi’s Local Content Workshop. Additionally, he has been intimately involved with all of Viodi’s clients. He created Digital Rights Management Reports that were approved by studios for several clients. He created processes for clients to use for their PPV and VOD operations. Prior to Viodi, LLC, Pyle was Director of Technical Sales for Demand Video, a Video On Demand application service provider which targeted cable television overbuilders. His independent telco experience dates to 1991 with product, project and sales management roles at Raynet and E/O Networks. His experience in the cable industry dates to 1979 with manufacturing, engineering and field service roles at companies such as Catel and C-Cor.