Nokia has announced that it will launch an Open Innovation lab in Dubai, UAE to drive regional innovation and accelerate the adoption of new technologies such as AI/ML for network automation and optimisation in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region
The initiative will also increase the regional focus of Nokia’s established global strategic collaborations with Dell Technologies and Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE).
The lab will focus on three important areas that will benefit operators and enterprises. The first area aims to drive further innovation in the Cloud RAN space with Nokia’s technology partners, such as Dell and HPE, as well as working with market-leading hyperscalers and other ecosystem players. The Nokia anyRAN approach helps evolve Cloud RAN towards a solution, which will work alongside purpose-built RAN with feature performance consistency. This approach brings the flexibility of choice of technology suppliers and operating environments, meeting the expectations of operators and enterprises for openness and efficiency.
The second area of focus will be on private wireless and industrial networks. The lab will showcase innovative Industry 4.0 use cases and industrial edge applications on Nokia’s market-leading MX Industrial Edge (MXIE) platform to help enterprises accelerate their transition to Industry 4.0 in the region.
The third area of focus will be on network intelligence. Nokia aims to accelerate the adoption of artificial intelligence and machine learning solutions for network automation and optimisation. The Nokia MantaRay solution portfolio for intelligent network management and automation will be showcased and used in this lab.
Mikko Lavanti, senior vice-president, mobile networks at Nokia, MEA, said, “We are excited to launch our Open Innovation Lab in MEA, reaffirming our commitment to drive innovation with our partners in key future technology areas, including Dell and HPE. This collaboration will accelerate the adoption of new technologies in our region. We can help both operators and enterprises enhance network efficiency and performance as well as unlock new monetisation opportunities.”
Tibor Fabry-Asztalos, senior vice-president, product development engineering, Telecom systems business, Dell Technologies, said, “The future of the telecommunications industry is open, backed by an ecosystem of partners collaborating to help network operators digitally transform and quickly bring innovative and revenue generating solutions to market. Nokia’s Cloud RAN capabilities, combined with Dell’s cloud-native infrastructure and software in the new Open Innovation Lab, will accelerate the adoption and performance of open network architectures and create new opportunities for network automation and efficiency.”
Anna Granö, vice-president, sales, Northern Western Europe for Top Accounts, partner ecosystem and business development, HPE, said, “We have been working together in testing the high density of the HPE ProLiant DL110 Telco server that will support up to three of the Nokia RAN accelerator cards, all in a short depth 1U platform. By combining our strengths, we are able to offer a comprehensive and robust Cloud RAN solution that drives efficiency, performance, openness, and scale. We’re excited to work with Nokia to bring this innovation into Nokia Open Innovation Lab to support operators and enterprises in the region who are embracing Cloud RAN technology.”
