Critical infrastructure: Future of the telecommunication industry

«To fight for change tomorrow we need to build resilience today»

Sheryl Sandberg

Covid-19 has transformed all aspects of our daily lives, modifying thoughts, attitudes, and ways of understanding the world, adapting them to a “new normality“. These consequences made us all aware of the importance of critical infrastructures.

Critical infrastructure are those assets, systems, and networks, whether physical or virtual, that are considered vital for the wellness and care of society. Since the beginning of pandemic, much has been said about the need for critical infrastructures, due to new requests and necessities of people.

But, What is known as Critical Infrastructures?

According to the definition of CISA (Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency) “We know critical infrastructure as the power used in homes, the water we drink, the transportation that moves us, the stores where we shop, and the Internet and communications we rely on to maintain our contact with friends, family, and colleagues.”

Critical infrastructure’s top priority is to assure safety, health and welfare for all citizens. There used to be four main pillars: transportation, water, energy, and communications. Now, as things are changing, healthcare, food industry, R & D… have become part of the list as well.

The communications industry is an integral component worldwide in terms of economy, public safety, businesses, and even interpersonal relationships, not to mention the important role of Telcos in the deployment of 5G and fiber optic networks, that have become key instruments to lead society in the new phase of the information era.

However, to become a digital transformation leader, Telcos must go through a process of change management, which indeed, has to be accomplished with support of specialized tools in this area.

Resilient VS Resistant

As a result of the development of new technologies and market demands, Telcos and operators can adopt different approaches towards changes. In order to better understand this, we will first explain what these two concepts mean.

Resilience is defined as the capability that has a company to positively approach circumstances that may arise over time, adapting its mechanisms and strategies, in order to maintain its system up-to-date and capable of operating in adverse conditions.

On the other hand, Resistant is defined as the act of resisting, or the capacity to undergo changes and maintaining the company’s traditional activity regardless of the circumstances.

According to EY in The top 10 risks in telecommunications the telecommunication industry will have a turning point with the first 5G wave. “Digital services are the top priority for telco leaders. (…) As 5G and the IoT move to center stage, telcos need to maximize their addressable market by developing innovative business models, and seizing opportunities for inorganic growth, service innovation and diversification through M&A and strategic alliances.”

Tools are emerging every day just to support these critical needs, to help achieve true resilience, and to protect infrastructures from challenges such as cyberattacks or stolen data.

This is why we develop TREE, a digital transformation platform specialised in process automation, infrastructure and asset management. Our mission is to empower telcos and operators supporting them to take full advantage of new opportunities, providing innovative solutions in a simple user-friendly tool.

While most of the Telcos are resistant to changes due to lack of digital knowledge, TREE can serve as a solution to eliminate all barriers: increase productivity, organise your tasks and adopt a digital approach, based on our 10 years’ experience in the industry.