Open Digital Architecture, APIs & Lab, to support University’s Institute of Digital Futures

Digital Transformation World, Nice, France, 15 May 2018 – TM Forum, the industry association driving digital business transformation, today announced a partnership with the University of Bristol that will help the University to develop its Institute of Digital Futures with industry-endorsed technical specifications using TM Forum’s Open Digital Architecture, APIs & Lab. 

The University provides the UK’s largest Communications PhD programme and has attracted research-funding of £55 million for its work on future digital communications.  As the University develops its Institute of Digital Futures, it will adopt and co-develop TM Forum’s Open Digital Architecture (ODA) and Open APIs as an architectural foundation to its emerging laboratory. TM Forum’s defacto-standards provide an open, industry-endorsed approach to connecting the burgeoning number of industry vertical digital ecosystems.

TM Forum’s Open APIs have been adopted by the Linux Foundation and are used by more than 5,000 software developers, working in more than 750 companies, in 66 countries. TM Forum is also the co-founder of UK5G, a body established to encourage the adoption and roll-out of 5G technologies in the UK.  TM Forum’s emerging Open Digital Labs programme will both contribute-to and benefit-from the partnership with the University of Bristol.   

The University of Bristol recently demonstrated the world’s first comprehensive urban 5G showcase as part of the UK Government’s 5G Testbeds & Trials Programme.  It is now working with the West of England Combined Authority to install 5G mobile technology at the Roman Baths in Bath, Bristol’s MShed museum and science centre, We The Curious.  The University is building a new Temple Quarter Enterprise Campus focused on digital innovation, which will house the Institute of Digital Futures, where TM Forum’s assets will be deployed. The Institute of Digital Futureswill be a state-of-the art research facility for internationally-leading research teams together with industrial and civic partners, unlocking an array of unprecedented applications of disruptive digital technologies.  

Nik Willetts, CEO, TM Forum said: ‘The University of Bristol has been a member of TM Forum for several years and we have been watching its digital research capability deepen for some time.  TM Forum’s breadth of industry membership compliments Bristol’s research depth, and it’s pleasing therefore, that we have found practical ways to collaborate on the development of an Open Digital Lab at the Institute of Digital Futures, at a time when our members are going through their own digital transformation and want real-world experimental testbeds.’

Professor Nishan Canagarajah, Pro Vice-Chancellor for Research at the University of Bristol, added:‘The University is delighted to be collaborating with TM Forum.  The University is already pioneering innovative ‘smart city’ technologies and the £300 millionnew Temple Quarter Enterprise Campus will benefit both people, businesses and the city. We look forward to welcoming TM Forum staff and members to Bristol to test and use new digital technology that will shape our future economy and society.’

ENDS

About TM Forum

TM Forum is an association of over 850 member companies that generate US$2 trillion in revenue and serve five billion customers across 180 countries. We drive collaboration and collective problem-solving to maximize the business success of communication and digital service providers and their ecosystem of suppliers around the world. Today, our focus is on supporting members as they navigate their unique digital transformation journeys, providing practical and proven assets and tools to accelerate execution and platforms to facilitate collaborative problem solving and innovation. Learn more at www.tmforum.org.

About University of Bristol

The University of Bristol is ranked within the top 50 universities in the world (QS World University Rankings 2018); it is alsoranked among the top five institutions in the UK for its research, according to new analysis of the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2014; and is the 4th most targeted university by top UK employers.

The University was founded in 1876 and was granted its Royal Charter in 1909.  It was the first university in England to admit women on the same basis as men. 

The University is a major force in the economic, social and cultural life of Bristol and the region, but is also a significant player on the world stage. It has over 16,000 undergraduates and nearly 6,000 postgraduate students from more than 100 countries, and its research links span the globe.

About the Temple Quarter Enterprise Campus
The Temple Quarter Enterprise Campus will be at the forefront of digital and business research, generating new thinking about the future of cities and developing solutions to real-world global challenges. It will offer new opportunities for the University to connect with the city, create jobs and celebrate Bristol culture. 

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Aisling Roberts
CCgroup PR
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University of Bristol Press Contact

Joanne Fryer
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T: +44 (0)117 394 0227