Jio and TM Forum open first Innovation Hub in Mumbai

TM Forum, the leading global alliance of telco and tech companies, and Jio, a subsidiary of Reliance Industries Limited, held the opening ceremony for the first TM Forum Innovation Hub, located in Mumbai, on Friday.

The Innovation Hub, said to be the first of its kind for the industry, will focus its first efforts on accelerating the development of Generative AI (Gen AI) and Large Language Models (LLM) and Open Digital Architecture to benefit the whole industry.

Leaders from both organisations and representatives from the Innovation Hub Founding Members, including Accenture, Deutsche Telekom, Google Cloud, Orange, Telenor and Vodafone attended the ceremony at the Reliance Corporate IT Park in Navi Mumbai.

As per a release, Mumbai was selected as the location for the first TM Forum Innovation Hub in recognition of India being the epicentre of global software development talent.

Its opening builds on the TM Forum’s long-standing commitment to India – where more than 37,000 active Forum member professionals are based.

One of the hub’s first focus areas is the application of Generative AI and LLM to priority use cases for telcos, including developing an architecture blueprint to simplify responsible use of generative AI for brownfield telecoms technology landscapes, including the related challenges of security, privacy, accuracy, performance, and scalability.

Besides, it will focus on accelerating the development and adoption of TM Forum’s Open Digital architecture. ODA underpins the creation of modular, componentized, and reusable cloud-native software to replace traditional BSS and OSS. Objectives include creating Reference implementations of the ODA Canvas and components, as well as migration patterns and innovative approaches to simplify migration from legacy software to ODA-compliant, cloud-native components.

Akash Ambani, Chairman, Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited said: “The TM Forum Innovation Hub is about delivering real-world solutions that will change our industry and there is no better way than to lean on talent from across the industry to solve our existing challenges as well as finding better ways to overcome future obstacles.”

Its opening builds on the TM Forum’s long-standing commitment to India – where more than 37,000 active Forum member professionals are based.

One of the hub’s first focus areas is the application of Generative AI and LLM to priority use cases for telcos, including developing an architecture blueprint to simplify responsible use of generative AI for brownfield telecoms technology landscapes, including the related challenges of security, privacy, accuracy, performance, and scalability.

Besides, it will focus on accelerating the development and adoption of TM Forum’s Open Digital architecture. ODA underpins the creation of modular, componentized, and reusable cloud-native software to replace traditional BSS and OSS. Objectives include creating Reference implementations of the ODA Canvas and components, as well as migration patterns and innovative approaches to simplify migration from legacy software to ODA-compliant, cloud-native components.

Akash Ambani, Chairman, Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited said: “The TM Forum Innovation Hub is about delivering real-world solutions that will change our industry and there is no better way than to lean on talent from across the industry to solve our existing challenges as well as finding better ways to overcome future obstacles.”

“We are delighted to see the first innovation hub open on our Mumbai campus as I believe Mumbai is the perfect location to foster the innovation needed. This is a really exciting time for Jio, TM Forum and the wider telecoms industry and we are honoured to be at the heart of this project,” Akash Ambani added.

Steffen Roehn, TM Forum Chair and Partner at Bain & Company said: “Rapid, open collaboration is today more important for our industry’s future than ever before. The TM Forum Innovation Hub will prove hugely beneficial as our members explore new technologies and more radical approaches to transform their organisations and strengthen their muscles. We’re delighted to be collaborating closely with Jio and all the founding members on this first Innovation Hub in Mumbai and look forward to seeing the first outcomes from the hub’s pilot projects.”

The Innovation Hub programme was unveiled two months ago at the TM Forum’s annual DTW – Ignite conference in Copenhagen. Founding members Accenture, Deutsche Telekom, Google Cloud, Orange, Reliance Jio, Telenor and Vodafone are all contributing a range of expertise and resources to the hub, including experts, physical space, technology capabilities and professional services. The first Innovation Hub teams will be made up of staff from these organizations working both physically and virtually. The Print