The 23rd IEEE Network Management and Operations Symposium was held in Miami, FL on May 8-12, 2023 with the theme of “Integrated Management Towards Resilient Networks and Services.” This year’s conference was the first to integrate its sister conference, namely IFIP/IEEE International Symposium on Integrated Network Management (IM). These two symposia have been held since 1988 on even and odd years alternately.
The conference venue was FIU Kovens Center which was located at Florida International University (FIU) Biscayne Bay Campus by the ocean. Indeed, FIU was not only a local supporter of the event with its venue and volunteers but also a gold patron through its Cybersecurity Preeminent program, which is a university wide center focusing on interdisciplinary cybersecurity research and education.
Other patron was Futurewei Technologies which was at the Platinum level. The location of the venue by the beach and accessibility of Miami from various locations in the world made Miami a competitive candidate for winning the hosting of NOMS 2023.
After finishing the Formula 1 race held in Miami, conference participants attended the first day of NOMS on Monday May 8th with 3 workshops, mini-conference and a tutorial. The main conference started on Tuesday with a welcoming from conference organizers and a keynote. On the evening of the same day, the conference welcomed its guests to the reception on the terrace of the beautiful Kovens Center. The attendees enjoyed a beautiful Miami breeze along with a spectacular ocean bay view while enjoying their conversations after a long time that was shadowed with on-line conferences.
The following days of NOMS conference also included a packed program with 4 more keynotes, panels, demos, distinguished expert panels, tutorials as well as many technical paper sessions. The demos, in particular, attracted a lot of lively one-to-one discussions and offer great engagement. The conference banquet was held on Wednesday again at the Kovens Center ballroom and conference participants again had the opportunity to mingle on the terrace on a beautiful Miami evening. The last day of the conference, on Thursday evening, the conference chairs announced the best paper, demo, picture and other awards while inviting people for NOMS 2024, which will be held in Seoul, S. Korea. On the same evening, the conference organizing and steering committees held their meeting with an enjoyable dinner. On Friday, May 12th, the conference resumed with 3 more workshops, mini-conference and a tutorial and concluded with a great success.
During 5 days at the conference, participants had countless opportunities to network with each other for collaboration and exchange of numerous technical ideas. FIU Biscayne Bay campus allowed the participants to take a short walk on the campus trail by the beach. Whoa app which was used as the official communication app of the conference was full of pictures from the participants enjoying their time on campus as well as performing other attractions in greater Miami area that included scenes from beaches, Miami Heat NBA game, shopping malls and of course alligators!
Overall, IFIP/IEEE NOMS 2023 has been a great success with its lively technical sessions, abundant opportunities for networking and beautiful weather for its social events. After 3 years of online conferences, many participants acknowledged the fact that on-site conferences are much more engaging and useful and thus they should not be replaced with online options. The only complaint about the conference came from Europeans who said that Kovens center was too cold, and they were freezing during the sessions! We look forward to seeing the network management community again next year in S. Korea.
