NEW YORK, NY — Questex and the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) have joined forces to create a new trade show with a core mission of making broadband accessible to every home in the United States.
Questex just wrapped up its inaugural US Broadband Summit in Washington DC in mid-November, attracting over 600 attendees. This new partnership with TIA will build on the success of that trade show, creating a new event for 2024 — Broadband Nation Expo — to be held October 9-11 at the Gaylord Convention Center in Washington, DC.
Broadband Nation Expo will bring together all levels of government, broadband service providers, ecosystem partners and academic institutions. Instead of hundreds, the event is expected to attract thousands of attendees, as well as more than 100 trade show exhibitors representing communications service providers, equipment manufacturers, solution providers and construction/engineering companies.
The broadband industry is facing a critical workforce shortage, with more than 200,000 skilled workers on the lookout. The Questex-TIA partnership will address this issue with a new interactive portal, Broadband Nation, that has the dual goal of attracting a younger, more diverse generation of workers to the broadband workforce and connecting job seekers with training opportunities at community colleges and technical institutes across the country that will prepare them for jobs in the sector.
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“To meet the growing demand for broadband professionals, there is a need to significantly increase the number of institutions across the country that offer broadband skills training,” said Dave Stehlin, CEO of TIA. “We are excited to introduce Broadband Nation to the market and contribute to this important mission of providing connectivity to all Americans.”
Another feature of the Broadband Nation Expo will be to address training needs: the Workforce Development Pavilion. The show plans to host administrators from universities, colleges, vocational schools and technical schools to learn how to add broadband training to their programs. Tables will be set up in the pavilion for companies and associations that offer broadband training programs. About a dozen associations and industry partners have already expressed interest in participating, organizers say.
“Our Workforce Development Pavilion will be an exciting addition to Broadband Nation Expo,” said Kevin Gray, Vice President of Technology, Media and Telecommunications at Questex. “Making these in-person connections is an important part of our broader collaboration with TIA through Broadband Nation. As with everything we do, we believe in-person connections are a critical part of community development.”
Contact Kevin Gray at kgray@questex.com; Dave Stehlin at dstehlin@tiaonline.org