This month’s cover story describes some of the companies that may not be familiar to the average attendee at OFC 2022. But, in some ways thanks to COVID-19, we all might be a little unfamiliar with everyone at the show, given the fact that the pandemic forced an all-virtual event in 2021 and sharply reduced attendance in 2020.
So it’s good to have an opportunity to reintroduce ourselves to each other in San Diego this year. Who are we in 2022? We’re an industry that has seen the necessity for the technologies and services we provide underscored over the past two years. Fiber-optic networks have supported work-from-home strategies that have enabled companies around the globe to operate as efficiently and as safely as the pandemic would allow. Governments worldwide have now recognized the importance of linking as many of their citizens as possible to fiber and are funding the deployment of more optical communications infrastructure.
But challenges remain. We’ll marvel at some of the technologies described in conferences or on display in the exhibit hall. But supply chain shortages will make bringing these advances to the people who can use them difficult for some time.
We’ll need innovation, which this industry has in abundance. But we’ll also need something that sometimes has become as difficult to find lately as semiconductors. We’ll need some patience. Maybe we’ll find new sources of that virtue as we greet each other again in person in San Diego.
Stephen Hardy | Editorial Director and Associate Publisher, Lightwave
Stephen Hardy is editorial director and associate publisher of Lightwave and Broadband Technology Report, part of the Lighting & Technology Group at Endeavor Business Media. Stephen is responsible for establishing and executing editorial strategy across the both brands’ websites, email newsletters, events, and other information products. He has covered the fiber-optics space for more than 20 years, and communications and technology for more than 35 years. During his tenure, Lightwave has received awards from Folio: and the American Society of Business Press Editors (ASBPE) for editorial excellence. Prior to joining Lightwave in 1997, Stephen worked for Telecommunications magazine and the Journal of Electronic Defense.
Stephen has moderated panels at numerous events, including the Optica Executive Forum, ECOC, and SCTE Cable-Tec Expo. He also is program director for the Lightwave Innovation Reviews and the Diamond Technology Reviews.
He has written numerous articles in all aspects of optical communications and fiber-optic networks, including fiber to the home (FTTH), PON, optical components, DWDM, fiber cables, packet optical transport, optical transceivers, lasers, fiber optic testing, and more.
You can connect with Stephen on LinkedIn as well as Twitter.