Lee S Dryburgh is a telecommunications engineer, technologist and futurist.

His expertise is in two domains:

• First - the way telecoms operates today at the engineering level; specifically Signalling System #7 (SS7/SigTran/CAMEL/MAP) which powers virtually all telephone calls, all SMS, cellular mobility itself, and most pre-paid cellular solutions.
• Second - exceptional knowledge of the future of telecommunications, in particular telephony. He can provide a detailed view of the industry in 1, 2 or even 10 year’s time.

In his “youth” he spent years pouring over the 17,000+ pages which constitute the SS7/SigTran related specifications. Concurrently he worked across 30+ countries and 13 US States providing certification testing, training and consulting in SS7/SigTran matters for leading operators and vendors. By age 25 he was considered the world’s most knowledgeable SS7 expert and was the lead-author of the best SS7/SigTran book - "SS7/C7 Protocol, Architecture and Services" (Cisco Press).

He then spent some years chasing hands on knowledge of what the industry said was next; working on engineering for the first 3G rollout, the first NGN, and the first mobile IMS network.

In his late 20s he began an engineering doctorate for Cisco looking at the future of telephony. He came to the conclusion that what the industry said was next, was wrong; and that the emergent opportunity space was enormous but frightfully complex. As a result established telecom conferences were largely irrelevant, so at the start of 2008 he setup his own - the Emerging Communications Conference & Awards (eComm). The event is now highly regarded and is seen as the world’s leading-edge communications event. It focuses on what’s next in telecom, mobile and Internet communications (see http://eComm.ec).

His engineering speciality is telecommunications signaling; Signaling System #7 (SS7/C7), SS7oIP (SigTran) as well as a SS7 applications, namely: Mobile Application Part (MAP), Customized Applications for Mobile networks Enhanced Logic (CAMEL), Intelligent Network Application Protocol (INAP), Advanced Intelligent Network (AIN), Base Station Subsystem Application Part (BSSAP), Radio Access Network Application Part (RANAP), Broadband ISDN User Part (B-ISUP), Bearer Independent Call Control Protocol (BICC). He's also comfortable with the non-SS7 signaling protocols such as Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) and H.323/H.324M plus MEGACO/MGCP.

He has:

• He has worked on code for virtually every SS7/C7 layer/application; GSM-MAP, TCAP, SCCP, INAP, ISUP, MTP, IS-41, BSSAP and standards ETSI, ANSI, Bellcore and ITU-T. For example he wrote the software decode for the Chinese INAP. He has also worked as a software engineer for both the acceSS7 and HP3900 platforms.
• Wrote and performed SS7 to SIP interworking tests.
• Dealt with signalling issues such as SIP/H.323/SS7 interworking for PSTN calls.
• Tested 3G/3.5G services such as video calling and location based services which require such signaling interworking.
• Managed softswitches and media gateways since 2004.
• Played leading roles in BICC/ISUP/SIP interworking verification major telecom equipment vendors.
• Played the leading role in achieving national SS7/C7 certifications including writing the UK SS7 test specification.
• Performed switch installations as well as post installation SS7 testing.
• Performed SS7/C7 testing for many variants including Swedish ISUP, UK ISUP, NUP/IUP, ANSI-41 and Russian ISUP in addition to the more common ITU and ANSI protocols.
• Performed testing against one of the world's most complex Intelligent Network (IN) platforms, certifying the SCCP and TCAP SS7/C7 protocols.
• Helped operators with 3GPP lead architecture changes. Such support has included SS7, SIP, H.323, CODECs/transcoding and softswitch configurations.
• Has unique knowledge of SS7/C7 security aspects and provides consulting on SS7 security issues.
• Has spent 10+ years delivering related training on an international basis. Most of the training requested is in-depth knowledge of SS7 (often with MAP) but increasingly customers are asking for IMS training along with views of the future of telecommunications.

He is a member of The Institution of British Telecommunications Engineers (IBTE), The Professional Contractors Group (PCG), The Federation of Telecommunications Engineers of the European Community (FITCE), The British Computer Society (BCS), The Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE) and The Institute of Electronic and Electrical Engineers (IEEE).

Lee is both interested in life and people; specifically topics such as purpose, what motivates people, peak performance and happiness. (he can be reached at lee.dryburgh at SS7.net)