Nokia said that one of the areas of focus of the lab will be on private wireless and industrial networks
Finnish vendor Nokia said it will launch an open innovation lab in Dubai, UAE, with the main aim of driving regional innovation and accelerating the adoption of new technologies such as AI/ML for network automation and optimization in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region.
In a release, Nokia said that the initiative will also increase the regional focus of Nokia’s established global strategic collaborations with Dell Technologies and Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE).
Nokia highlighted that the Dubai lab will focus on three different 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 hyperscalers and other ecosystem players.
The second area of focus will be on private wireless and industrial networks. Nokia explained that the lab will showcase innovative Industry 4.0 use cases and industrial edge applications on Nokia’s MX Industrial Edge (MXIE) platform to help enterprises accelerate their transition to Industry 4.0 in the MEA 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 optimization. The Nokia MantaRay solution portfolio for intelligent network management and automation will be showcased and used in this lab, the vendor said.
Mikko Lavanti, senior vice president of 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 monetization opportunities.”
Meanwhile, Tibor Fabry-Asztalos, senior vice president of product development engineering and telecom systems business at 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.”
