Show organizers are still planning to hold Cable-Tec Expo 2020 in Denver this fall, even as they monitor the ongoing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on public health and business travel.

"One thing that hasn't changed at SCTE/ISBE is our planning for Cable-Tec Expo, the largest cable telecommunications and technology event in the Americas," Mark Dzuban, president and CEO of SCTE/ISBE, the event's organizer, said in a statement released Friday. "[O]ur Expo team is moving ahead to ensure that everything is ready for Expo's October 13-16 run in Denver."

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Dzuban added that the event's program committee – co-chaired by Charter Communications' Tom Monaghan and Comcast's Ed Marchetti – is poised to review Fall Technical Forum abstracts that are due May 8. Areas of focus include the Internet of Things, AI and machine learning and updates on the industry's "10G" initiative, among others.

Earlier this month, SCTE/ISBE announced that it is also creating a workshop focused on lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic that will be jointly produced by SCTE/ISBE, CableLabs and the NCTA. That workshop will touch on areas such as effective collaboration, how connectivity is maintained during a crisis, how to handle capacity shifts as at-home consumption rises and implications for telehealth and telemedicine.

This year's event is also set to coincide with two other events: The Cable TV Pioneers Annual Dinner and CableLabs' Envision event.

"Our goal in the 25 weeks between now and mid-October is to ensure that all of this takes place in an atmosphere that is safe for all involved," Dzuban said. "We understand that there are uncertainties ahead. We are following the recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control, are in constant contact with Denver and Colorado authorities, and are taking extra precautions together with the Colorado Convention Center and our hotel partners. The bottom line is this: we will do nothing that will jeopardize the safety of our guests."

The spread of COVID-19 has caused several industry events to cancel or be postponed to later in the year. Recently, CableLabs canceled 4Front, a cross-industry event that was to take place in June (CableLabs plans to try again in 2021). Another major event, NAB 2020, was canceled and is being replaced with an all-digital event to be held May 13-14.

Light Reading's own Cable Next-Gen Technologies & Strategies has been rescheduled for August 25-27 at the Embassy Suites in Denver.

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— Jeff Baumgartner, Senior Editor, Light Reading