Thanks to T-Mobile, CIIRC CTU became one of the first academic departments in Europe with its own 5G SA campus network in early August. Today's Memorandum of Cooperation marks the establishment of a joint laboratory within the Testbed for Industry 4.0, which will support the development of a research and experimentation environment with an emphasis on SMEs and startups. The laboratory also became the fourth hub (after Berlin, Tel Aviv and Krakow) of Hubraum, the Deutsche Telekom Group's technology incubator. The CIIRC CTU 's and T-Mobile's laboratory in Prague should cover the area of Industry 4.0 within the incubator.
By signing the Memorandum of Cooperation today, T-Mobile confirms its commitment to contribute to the development of modern scientific research and development in the Czech Republic. Within the framework of Testbed for Industry 4.0, it will cooperate with CIIRC CTU on projects supporting the digital transformation of small and medium-sized companies using the latest technological trends and innovations. It wants to focus primarily on strengthening the competences of start-ups and companies in the areas of production data processing, machine image processing, artificial intelligence and virtual and augmented reality. All this will be made possible by the launch of the first purely 5G private campus network, the so-called Stand Alone, which, compared to the earlier Non Stand Alone version, already takes full advantage of the capabilities of the next generation network.
T-Mobile is also a partner of the National Centre for Industry 4.0, which connects academia with industrial companies and is based at the CIIRC CTU. The connection of the Testbed for Industry 4.0 with private mobile networks opens up new opportunities for intensive cooperation between the entities and especially for effective knowledge transfer to industry.
"CIIRC CTU has long been a carrier of innovation and supporting the transformation of Czech industry is one of its long-term goals. Our scientific expertise is supported by strong industrial partners who not only support, but also develop and implement our vision. I am pleased that the cooperation with T-Mobile continues to deepen and with the signing of the memorandum it is gaining international significance," says Ondřej Velek, Director of the Czech Institute of Informatics, Robotics and Cybernetics at CTU.
The Hubraum technology incubator, a subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom, of which T-Mobile is a part, took over the patronage of this cooperation. Hubraum's goal is to connect start-ups with Europe's leading telecommunication company to support the transfer of innovation, know-how, and financial support for companies in the fields of 5G, artificial intelligence and IoT technologies.
"I am very pleased that we can build a top scientific workplace alongside a strong partner in the academic field, which CIIRC CTU undoubtedly is, which will help develop young talents and test new solutions thanks to the latest technologies. We want to offer start-ups and small and medium-sized companies the knowledge and competence of our team of experts to help them accelerate their digitalisation, research and development," says José Perdomo Lorenzo, CEO of T-Mobile Czech Republic and Slovak Telekom, adding: "Supporting the Czech Republic's transformation to Industry 4.0 is one of T-Mobile's key priorities, which we are delivering on through our collaboration."
As a mobile operator, T-Mobile has launched the first 5G Stand Alone private mobile network as part of the Testbed in the Czech Republic and Central and Eastern Europe. T-Mobile will further operate and develop this network in cooperation with CIIRC according to the needs of the agreed activities.
Photography, source: Roman Sejkot, CIIRC ČVUT