Open Networking Summits, Inc., the only nonprofit conference group dedicated to accelerating the future of Software Defined Networking (SDN) technologies, today announced the third annual Open Networking Summit will be held April 15-17, 2013 at the Santa Clara Convention Center and Hyatt Regency Santa Clara, in the heart of the Silicon Valley. With more than one thousand attendees expected from around the globe, Open Networking Summit 2013 will provide like-minded people the opportunity learn about SDN and interact with networking leaders in a causal, fun environment. This year’s event will feature the most dynamic thought leaders in the networking industry, including a keynote presentation from Vinton Cerf, vice president and Chief Internet Evangelist at Google, one of the original inventors of the Internet architecture, and fondly known as one of the fathers of Internet.

“SDN is defining the future of networking, and the new products and services that are being invented and deployed are creating a budding ecosystem of users, vendors, researchers, service providers, and investors. As with any emerging technology, connecting like-minded individuals and organizations to facilitate knowledge transfer to advance an early marketplace can prove challenging,” said Guru Parulkar, chairman of the 2013 Summit. “The Open Networking Summit provides that space for people to 'plug-in' to SDN. The 2013 event will be the premier SDN experience where the leaders of the movement gather to discuss and solve real networking problems, interact about the research and technologies, and share ideas and use-cases of SDN.”

This year’s Open Networking Summit, produced in cooperation with the Open Networking Foundation (ONF), will kick off with a keynote address from Vinton Cerf, who will share his perspective on SDN and OpenFlow. In his address, he will highlight how SDN will shape future of the Internet, and how Google is building and using SDN infrastructures. In addition, attendees will be able to learn from some of the key influencers in networking about their SDN deployments and lessons learned. Speakers include:

• Axel Clauberg, vice president of Aggregation, Transport & IP, Deutsche Telekom AG, and member of the ONF Board of Directors
• Yukio Ito, senior vice president of Service Infrastructure, NTT Communications Corporation, and member of the ONF Board of Directors
• David Lambert, president and CEO, Internet 2
• Steven Schwartz, global head of Telecommunications and Market Data Services, Goldman Sachs, and member of the ONF Board of Directors
• Keith Shinn, vice president of Click2Compute Cloud Infrastructure, Fidelity
• Amin Vahdat, distinguished engineer, Google, and member of the ONF Technical Advisory Group (TAG)

During the event, attendees will also have the opportunity to expand their knowledge of SDN through rich presentations, interactive tutorials, cutting-edge research, interesting exhibits, and causal networking opportunities, as well as, unique access to the leaders and inventors of the SDN movement.

In addition, this year’s Open Networking Summit will provide:

• Users and network operators the opportunity to meet with their peers to exchange ideas and knowledge, discuss real problems they are looking to solve, and meet early adopters that will showcase their SDN deployments and their business benefits.
• Business and technology executives the chance to gather to discuss how SDN can solve business problems where the network is limiting their ability to grow; how SDN can create new sources of revenue; or how SDN can meet a desired cost structure and create competitive differentiation.
• Network and enterprise architects the ability to learn about SDN from peers, understand where it may apply in their networks, and key resources to make them successful with potential SDN use cases.
• Vendors building SDN solutions an occasion to join the conversation to share their point of view, and showcase their technologies and solutions to prospective customers.
• Researchers an outlet to expose their cutting-edge research to the broader community for direct, commercial feedback.
• Investors an event to learn about the latest advances in SDN and to discover new funding opportunities.
• Open-source developers the chance plug-in and test interoperability of their SDN technologies and demonstrate possible solutions to the ecosystem.

Registration for the Open Networking Summit 2013 is now open and space is limited, so to ensure your participation and early bird rates, register today. For information about the event, including exhibitor or sponsorship opportunities, please visit: www.opennetsummit.org.

About Open Networking Summits, Inc.:

With a mission to help the SDN revolution succeed by producing high-impact SDN event(s), Open Networking Summits, Inc. is the only nonprofit conference organization exclusively committed to bringing together thought leaders, luminaries, creators, and innovators of OpenFlow and Software Defined Networking. Founded in 2011, Open Networking Summits, Inc. produces events that attract participants from around the world. Attendees share their reasons for a change in networking; showcase technologies; and introduce products and services built using the SDN approach. Find the Open Networking Summit at www.opennetsummit.org.