Sippy Software believes technology can help humanity by making the promises of the global economy real in every community.

For over 15 years, Sippy has been helping to provide business opportunities for entrepreneurs throughout the world, particularly in rural areas. Sippy provides simple, affordable tools that allow entrepreneurs working in large and small communities to seamlessly connect and terminate voice calls between families and between businesses. By using Sippy’s Softswitch, entrepreneurs generate revenue that can traverse their local economy and positively impact the lives of people in their communities. A key benefit of Sippy’s technology is that it helps to connect small community economies to the larger global economies.

While the world’s telecommunications requirements and population are highly concentrated inside major cities like Beijing, a good portion of the traffic that Sippy handles terminates in small places with populations well under a million. We believe this, even if in small measure, helps humanity.

We believe that the best way that anyone in the industry can serve the next generation is by actively implementing business practices and developing open source technologies that remove blocks to innovation. Open source projects are very important to us, particularly because we believe in the benefits that technology creates in people’s lives. In our philosophy, companies that look to inhibit competition are counterproductive to progress because they aim to exploit their technology at the cost of other possible technologies. On the other hand, companies that facilitate and work with open source projects are catalysts for change in that they promote collaborative competition and encourage technology developers to integrate with them. The result is positive progress.

The next generation of industry professionals will be best served by companies that nourish competition and encourage innovation. Platforms that are collaborative in nature and facilitate entrepreneurial undertakings are becoming more and more prevalent. We believe the reason for this is that new generations of people have seen the benefits that disruptive ideas can have in our lives and the negative effects that old-world monopolies have.

In line with our belief in the protection of competition, we believe in the protection of the consumer. There are companies that profit by attempting to skew competition their way by employing unethical business practices. We believe that more functionality that leads to consumer trust such as STIR/SHAKEN should be developed. This implies redeveloping some technologies such as our own. For our industry to continue to evolve in a positive direction, consumers need to know they can trust your product.

In the case of STIR/SHAKEN, it is clear that as a result of the implementation of the rules, new technologies will emerge that provide trust. Based on recent discussions I’ve been involved in relating to STIR/SHAKEN, it is clear that with new compliance requirements come new opportunities. Redeveloping the way consumers interact and are served by technology means progress as defined by our view that technology should improve people’s lives.

The direct value of PTC for Sippy Software is its ability to keep us informed on the technology and business issues that pave the way for how we aim to profit. Unlike other industry alliances or advocates, PTC is directly involved with its members and listens to their voice. In doing this, PTC acts as a listening post where we can monitor how the industry feels and the important issues believed to be worthy of our attention such as social causes.

From a personal standpoint, PTC grants me the opportunity to meet with individuals who shape the industry and very willingly share their experiences and knowledge. Not having an extensive history within the industry, it is easy to feel disadvantaged during a discussion. However, in my experience, each time I’ve met a member of PTC they have been cordial and quick to shake my hand – this has helped me to develop the type of professional relationships that will allow me to establish a history within the industry. At PTC’20 I had the opportunity to briefly interact with Philip Napoli who shared his perspectives on how Sippy could contribute to social causes, as a result, we began discussions with Télécoms Sans Frontières.

My advice would be to listen to the industry prophets, the elders, and those who have witnessed how the industry got here. I was impressed during PTC’20 by a gentleman I met who was a long-time PTC Member and had heard many lectures where “future technologies” were discussed and could attest to the fact that technologies such as 5G were once only concepts. The gentleman I spoke with told me that unlike other industries, ours is one where the future truly is possible. He gave me that piece of advice when I asked for it and I think it is advice worthy of being shared with everyone.

During PTC’20, I had the privilege of meeting two young individuals who spoke as subject matter experts on competition and the effects of setting limits. The two up-and-coming leaders I met were 2020 Young Scholar Program recipients: Oliver Zierke, who presented economic analysis, and Friso Bostoen, who presented legal analysis. The arguments they presented during PTC’20 resonated with me and with what I believe is the raison d’être of our industry. That is, the methodical pursuit of ways to make technology productive while at the same time finding ways of regulating how we do so.