Networks 2008 in Budapest, Hungary
Networks 2008 has come to an end
Networks 2008 has come to an end
One of the most significant conferences for infocommunication specialists of this year, namely Networks 2008, ended on 2 October 2008. The five-day professional and scientific event, organized jointly by the Scientific Association for Infocommunications and the Department of Telecommunications and Media Informatics of the Budapest University of Technology and Economics (BME-TMIT), was the 13th in the series of International Telecommunications Network Strategy and Planning Symposiums (shortly: Networks 2008).
The organization of the conference, which was awarded to Budapest in New Delhi in 2006, began in early 2007. A total of 117 articles were submitted in response to the call for papers, evaluated by more than two hundred Hungarian and international experts, having an article juried by at least four proofreaders. The accepted 90 papers were classified and presented in 21 technical sessions. 26 countries were represented by the authors, though most of the papers were presented by Hungarian, Japanese, American, German, Canadian, Spanish and English speakers. We have managed to invite the influential personalities of the telecommunications sector to Budapest to hold the eight presentations of the four plenary sessions that were organized besides the technical sessions. The three-day conference was preceded by two introductory days, where in total 11 presentations were given, each lasting three hours, targeted to broaden the audience’s professional skills. The organizers of the conference provided free entry to these tutorials also for university students besides the registered participants. The conference related exhibition hosted 9 companies. 261 specialists registered from 30 countries to this five-day event in total, and, in addition, another 74 attendants registered for free participation on the tutorials. All in all, this sums up to 335 participants.
The conference’s International Management and Scientific Committee handed over the “Best Paper Award” on the closing plenary session. This honorable title was awarded to the Spanish Andrea Blanco Redondo, French Olivier Renais and American Mohamed El Sayed.
The conference’s motto “Convergence in Progress” was well reflected by the presentations. More to the point, the conference went even beyond this so that its slogan could also have been “Convergence in Practice”. Many speakers presented the practical results of the convergence of telecommunications, information technology and media, as well as of fixed and mobile communications.
According to the decision of the International Management and Scientific Committee, hosting of the Networks 2010 event was awarded to Warsaw.
Let me take the opportunity to express my thanks to the conference’s speakers, organizers, exhibitors, session chairmen, the members of the domestic and international organizing and advisory committees, as well as to the sponsors of the event, including first and foremost the National Office for Research and Technology, for all their contributions to the success of the conference, and to its smooth organization and execution.
Budapest, 6 October 2008
Prof. Dr. Gyula Sallai
Department of Telecommunications and Media Informatics of Budapest University of Technology and Economics (BME-TMIT),
Scientific Association for Infocommunications (HTE),
Chair, Networks 2008 International Management and Scientific Committee
