Introducing DVEP

Digital video, including interactive and on-demand, continues to serve as the evolutionary catalyst for the cable telecommunications industry. Not since the advent of satellite-delivered video has a technology promised to drive us forward with such a revolutionary momentum. This is one reason SCTE’s Professional Development Committee chose to establish the Digital Video Engineering Professional Certification (DVEP). Radiene Watson, director of strategic accounts for Harmonic , explains: “I am not aware of another digital video certification similar to the one being developed by SCTE. There are a few vendor-specific certifications, but none addressing the technology as a whole like SCTE’s DVEP Certification.” The first development step was to seek to understand what engineering tasks are associated with the implementation of digital video services at the operator level. A small team of facilitators was formed to meet with engineers from several operators. The investigative team met with engineers from Bright House , Time Warner and Charter . Once a clearer picture was formed regarding the engineering of digital video, the team recruited assistance from a variety of vendors in the digital video space to develop the DVEP structure. The DVEP Development Subcommittee is made up of individuals from SeaChange International, Bright House Communications, BigBand, Harmonic, Cisco, Juniper, Concurrent, Triveni Digital, Comcast and EGT. When members of the development subcommittee were asked why their companies chose to participate in the development of SCTE’s DVEP Certification, Timothy Diep, Juniper Networks’ product line manager for cable products, responded: “With the onset of competition from telco TV and greater customer demand for choices, video multimedia will define the overall cable network architecture of tomorrow, and as a partner to the cable industry, Juniper is dedicated to enhancing the talent pool for video technologies.” Concurrent’s Tim Dodge said: “Concurrent recognizes the need to develop best-practices engineering techniques. The industry’s top vendors and service providers have an obligation to ensure that relevant technical information is available to the experts who need it. A solid understanding of all solutions needed for digital video program delivery is essential to ensure high quality of service. SCTE’s DVEP will assess the industry’s technical experts on the knowledge they need to install, maintain and troubleshoot today’s complex digital video systems. Concurrent is proud to be a supporter of this important SCTE initiative.” So what is covered by SCTE’s DVEP Certification? The first thing to understand is that DVEP is an engineering-level certification. It is designed to cover engineering issues associated with delivering the broad range of digital video services, from facilities and physical aspects to engineering management and professionalism. “Its design is specific to the needs of our industry. As such, this certification can be used as a tool to give employers confidence that holders of SCTE’s DVEP Certification possess the knowledge to run our complicated networks. In addition, the certification provides a milestone in the professional development road map for experienced engineers and aspiring engineers alike,” said Comcast’s Pam Nobles, chair of SCTE’s Certification Subcommittee. SCTE’s DVEP Certification is a unique credential. It covers a broad range of technologies associated with deployment of digital video with unparalleled depth. It is uniquely challenging, yet is positioned to be a highly worthwhile credential. I promise that when you achieve your DVEP Certification, you will truly feel like you’ve earned it. The new certification is scheduled to debut at SCTE Cable-Tec Expo 2006, allowing candidates to gain their first exposure to the new exam. Expo is set for Tuesday through Friday, June 20-23, in Denver. Get SCTE DVEP Certified and get ahead! Joel E. Welch is SCTE Director of Certification & Program Development. Reach him at [email protected].