Press Release

Vint Cerf to Keynote IEIC Global NAP Summit 2.0 Promoting Internet Diversification and Interconnection Ecosystem Development

Aug 7, 2022
4 min read

HENRICO, VA (August 9, 2022)

The Internet Ecosystem Innovation Committee (IEIC), an independent global committee that promotes Internet diversity and resilience through the formation of new global Internet nexus points, today announced that it will be hosting the highly successful summit in Henrico Virginia on November 8th, 2022. The summit will also mark the official opening of DE-CIX Richmond Internet Exchange platform.

The IEIC/NAP Summit 2.0 is being organized on the heels of the success of the inaugural IEIC/NAP Summit 1.0, which was held in May of 2019. The inaugural summit was attended by over 400 industry executives, 30 speakers and entailed five panel discussions spanning the data center, terrestrial fiber, subsea fiber, Internet Exchange Point, and various other network service provider industry sub-sectors. (Register for the IEIC/NAP Summit 2.0 here.)

“The creation of new enterprise and new customers in areas ripe for new development is a high priority for this country. Henrico can be a bellwether for the opportunity and worked examples raise the economic tide for everyone,” said Vint Cerf, Chairman of IEIC and Google’s Chief Internet Evangelist, also known as the “Father of the Internet.”

 

Over the past two years, during the pandemic, the digitization of enterprises has been fast-tracked, and our consumption and production of data has skyrocketed. In 2020-2021, IEIC held Virtual Summit Series covering various digital infrastructure topics, including—The Resiliency of the Internet, Digitizing Enterprises, Preparation in the Public Sector, Lessons Learned from the Pandemic and what could be next, Autonomous Cars, Connected Cars and & Digitization of the Automobile Industry. The replay of these webinars is available on the IEIC website.

“Henrico has evolved to become the Global Internet Hub in the Mid-Atlantic part of the eastern seaboard of the United States”, said Clint Heiden, Founder of IEIC. “The shifting of almost 18% of all international Internet traffic to the region over a short span of four years demonstrates the significant potential that is ahead of us harnessing the true power of these subsea cable systems that connect us across countries and continents, converging with data centers. Henrico has become a role model for regions around the world to follow.”  The link to a short video on Henrico’s digital infrastructure is here.

The IEIC/NAP Summit 2.0, to be held in November, will include industry luminaries and world-class speakers who will be sharing their insight on the following key themes:

  • The Growth of the Internet infrastructure and its implications for the economy
  • Subsea Cables 
  • Enterprise Digitalization (focus on Healthcare, Finance, Automobile, and other industries)
  • Economic Growth Driven by Digital Infrastructure (Fireside chat)
  • Middle-Mile/Last-Mile Connectivity and Bridging the Digital Divide
  • Internet Ecosystem Decentralization
  • A Look Ahead: AI, IoT, Connected Cars, Connected Homes, TeleMedicine et. al.

The summit program also includes the formal opening ceremony of DE-CIX Richmond. DE-CIX Richmond is the company’s 5th Internet Exchange in North America offering low-latency Layer 2 connectivity between Richmond, New York, Dallas, Phoenix, and Chicago, creating the largest carrier and data center neutral interconnection ecosystem in North America.

 

“I am looking forward to welcoming industry luminaries both from the U.S. and from various parts of the world across public and private sectors to the summit,” said Vinay Nagpal, Founding Member and Executive Director of IEIC. “These luminaries will highlight the importance of digital infrastructure—which is equally important as other forms of infrastructure such as roads, water, power, and sewer. The economic development team at Henrico has been a big supporter of the digital infrastructure, which has led to tremendous economic growth in the region creating new jobs and new companies.”

The confirmed industry luminaries taking part in the summit include—Vint Cerf (Google), Clint Heiden (QTS Data Centers), Vinay Nagpal (InterGlobix), Ivo Ivanov (DE-CIX), Anthony Romanello (Henrico), Staffan Göjeryd (Arelion), Michael Leidinger (Hilton), Vinay Kanitkar (Akamai), Sarah Keller (Uber), Jason Black (NVIDIA), Frank Nazzaro (Freddie Mac), Steve Alexander (Ciena), Gerardo Bonilla (Telxius), Krishna Narayanaswamy (Netskope) and others. InterGlobix Magazine is the media partner for the IEIC Summit. Additional details for the summit and registration information can be found at: www.ieicco.comddd

About the Internet Ecosystem Innovation Committee

The IEIC is an independent committee that promotes Internet diversity forming new global Internet nexus points. The mission of IEIC is to partner with communities globally to create new Internet nexus points through public and private partnerships with local municipalities, academia and businesses. The Founding Members of IEIC are industry luminaries from many of the world’s most respected companies and leaders including: Vint Cerf/Google (NASDAQ: GOOG), Clint Heiden/QTS, Vinay Nagpal/InterGlobix, Steve Alexander/Ciena (NYSE: CIEN), Rafael Arranz/Telxius, Jason Black/NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA), Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), Mark Boxer/Cigna (NYSE: CI), Barbara Boyan/Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), Andrew Dugan/CenturyLink (NYSE: CTL), Staffan Göjeryd/Arelion (VSE: TEL1L), Brent Bensten/QTS , Asher Kagan/Blade, Vinay Kanitkar/Akamai (NASDAQ: AKAM), Sarah Keller/Uber (NYSE: UBER), Athanasios (Sakis) Kitsopanidis /Ford (NYSE: F) Michael Leidinger/Hilton (NYSE: HLT), Steve Alexander/Ciena (NYSE: CIEN), Krishna Narayanaswamy/Netskope, Frank Nazzaro/FreddieMac and Anthony Romanello/Henrico Economic Development Authority. For additional information visit: www.ieicco.com

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