The International Society of Broadband Experts (ISBE), the global arm of The Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE), and the U.K.-based Society for Broadband Professionals said they have signed a memorandum of understanding that provides a framework for “continuing and future cooperation” that will include training harmonization.
The MoU was signed last Friday (October 20) at the ISBE International Breakfast, held during the SCTE•ISBE Cable-Tec Expoin Denver.
The agreement includes an intention from both organizations to set up a working group that harmonizes their activities as well as cooperative activities that, together, aim to boost the quality of their respective training portfolios.
Last month, the groups confirmed that Society for Broadband Professionals’ input is being integrated for the first time into an existing ISBE course.
Discussions are underway for other cooperative ventures, including the ability of each society to endorse the others’ training courses and final certification. Both groups recently exhibited together at the Liberty Global Technology Summit, held last month in Amsterdam, they said.
The latest MoU follows an earlier one, announced in February 2016, that aimed to address brand confusion between the U.S.- and U.K.-based organizations, which both use the “SCTE” initialism. To help smooth out matters, the U.S.-based SCTE introduced ISBE as a brand in September 2014.
RELATED: SCTE Does Deal With SCTE
“We are delighted to be formalising our continuing collaborative relationship with ISBE and the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers,” Mike Thornton, president of the Society for Broadband Professionals, said in a statement. “Ultimately, this will benefit all our members, those taking our training courses and the industry as a whole.”
“This is a great step forward for our organisations, both of which have built strong reputations in the global training field with a range of customers across the cable telecommunications sector,” added Mark Dzuban, president and CEO of the SCTE/ISBE. “As the need for cable education continues to expand around the world, our ability to work together will help to create new programmes that will build value for our industry.”
