As I have done in previous years around this time, I would like to take this opportunity to summarize some of the most important issues we have encountered in 2017. This year is proving to be a very interesting year for the telecommunications sector.

First of all, the arrival of IoT and 5G is moving ever closer. Operators are already setting up test zones in some countries/cities with the new 5G structure. With this established, IoT will stop being an issue for the laboratory and will instead become a reality in the lives of many people.

On another note, despite the fact that Big Data has to address data privacy issues and resistance from some organizations, investments in Big Data solutions continue to grow appreciably; mainly because of the many benefits they provide to companies and organizations. New investments will be seen in hardware, software and service vendor companies, and this is in addition to the resources that other markets and organizations are moving to make Big Data provide us with the right benefits and limit the problems that certain sectors think they might bring to intellectual property protection.Â

And then there is the evolving digital transformation. It is no longer just white papers or reports on the future of the industry with digital transformation and related services, such as SD-WAN. In the Digital Enterprise Show which took place in Madrid in May of this year, we saw technology vendors promoting their products and services for the digital transformation. And not just the suppliers. At the very same event, IDG was seen explaining just how far the digital transformation and SD-WAN have pervaded our lives.

In general, the telecommunications market is maintaining the previous years high growth and IT departments are gaining more and more importance in companies to allow them be able to incorporate the new concepts mentioned above: IoT, big data, digital transformation and others.

Unfortunately, there have also been a couple of worrying developments in the telecommunications sector in 2017. Ransomware attacks have caused problems for many companies and organizations worldwide. Many are currently working to eliminate this phenomenon in the sector.

From our Teldat blog, we have been publishing posts covering many branches of the telecommunications sector for several years now. We are fortunate to have a great team of regular bloggers plus a number of spontaneous bloggers, mainly telecommunications engineers from R&D and Support departments. Authors with a high level of knowledge covering a wide range of high-interest topics.

This year, we have launched a new version of our blog. Perhaps the most important point is the incorporation of our blog onto the Teldat website. It also has a lot of other improvements including a new design and a blog summary page. We now also present the authors so you can know who they are and where they are in the organization.

As is the case throughout most of Europe, we will take a few weeks off during the summer. When we come back, our bloggers will keep you informed through our new blog. Therefore, from Teldat, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you, our customers and followers for the loyalty and interest you have shown.