Learnings from Nairobi and London, how to get to the top of telecoms, and much more...

Forgive the gap between Spotlights (it's been ages) - there's been a lot going on for the ITW team. We've been hard at work putting together the agenda summits for the 2024 edition of ITW (which you can see here), we have a sparkly new website (which you can see here), and we're very pleased to announce registration is open for ITW 2024 (which you can do here)! We've also got a nice set of analysis, interviews, and cool stuff from people and companies in and around the community - keep scrolling down for some of that. But first...

ITW 2024: passes are waiting for you...

We know you've been waiting for it - so here's the link to secure your place nice and early for ITW 2024. It's on the 15th, 16th and 17th May (with pre-event happenings on the 14th) at last year's venue the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Centre. Passes are $799 if you book in advance and $1099 on the door, so make sure you book nice and early!

Learnings from London

Across the water in the UK, the Capacity Europe event (which quite a few of the ITW team work on) wrapped up its three days in October. The discussion points crossed over a fair amount with what's on the ITW 2024 agenda, so we decided to share 12 conclusions with you that came out of the event.

Automation came up in a lot of contexts - not just in the technically-focused network transformation sessions, but also a vital way to get a varied industry working together more effectively. There was also a big focus on various aspects of security, with plenty of discussion on network resilience and actual physical security of network infrastructure (cable cutting being a pressing example right now). Anyway, here's the full list of conclusions - and you can listen to some full sessions from the event here to take a deeper dive as well.

"A great event full of opportunities and lots of networking!"

That's nice of you to say, Richard Ndawa ! Richard was talking about the first ever ITW Africa event, which brought 800 people to Nairobi to do business and share insights. If you missed it, take a look at the video highlights below!

There was also a nice crisp summary from TowerXchange's Laura Graves of the key topics that came up on stage in Nairobi - covering mobile dominance, power issues, LEO and more. Take a look at the full article here.

Also, in the lead-up to the event Linx 's Nurani Nimpuno talked to ITW Africa about why she was taking part and what matters in African connectivity right now.

How connectivity leaders got to the top - and their advice on how to do the same

The talent question in telecoms isn't just about bringing youngsters to the industry - it's also vitally important to make sure people already in the sector have the chance to develop their skills and become the leaders of tomorrow. That's the thinking behind the Talent Accelerator programme from the GLF - a techoraco brand , and over the past few months the GLF team has been talking to connectivity chiefs around the world to learn the story behind their success. Here's a preview of some of the highlights - and you can head to the GLF LinkedIn page to see the full versions of these videos.

Bits and pieces from the world of connectivity

And finally, here are some highlights from the world of connectivity we think you might like:

• Two connectivity project maps - one for the Middle East and one for south-east Asia

• The Capacity Europe keynote chat show recording - 45 minutes long, so put it on in your lunch break
• The Global Carrier Awards 2023 took place in London 2 weeks ago - here are the winners
• A fascinating chat with Ciena 's SVP and CFO James E. Moylan where he looks back on his career and forwards to Ciena's upcoming plans
• The 'co-ompetition' between telcos and hyperscalers is taking a lot of headspace right now - here are some examples from the Asian market where it's worked out.