Top connectivity, digital service providers and solution providers around the globe are recognized for outstanding work digitally transforming the telecommunications industry.
Digital Transformation World, Copenhagen, Denmark — 20 September 2022 — TM Forum, the industry association driving digital transformation through collaboration, today announces the winners of its 2022 Excellence Awards during the first day of the Digital Transformation World (DTW) global event.
Since 2007, TM Forum’s Excellence Awards have recognized the world’s leading companies for innovative achievements spanning digital transformation, business and IT agility, customer centricity, cross-industry partnering and collaboration, and product and service innovation across six themes.
This year the 70+ entries received were judged by a panel of 22 independent industry experts. As a neutral, non-profit organization, TM Forum ensures that the awards are wholly impartial, celebrating important examples of industry success and delivering valuable peer recognition.
“TM Forum’s Excellence Awards are amongst the toughest and most respected in the telecommunications industry. We had a remarkable selection of submissions this year and it was an extremely difficult decision to choose between all the companies partnering and innovating to improve the industry. Congratulations to all the winners this year, you reflect the best cases of customer experience, digital transformation, automation, and innovation worldwide,” remarked Head Judge of the TM Forum Excellence Awards, Camille Mendler, Chief Analyst, Omdia.
This year’s winners and projects are:
AI, data & insights
Organizations are drowning in data. Data lakes are turning into data swamps. What’s the right balance between centralized and edge data processing, who controls and uses the data, and how does it enable AI?
This award recognizes companies that are successfully overcoming these challenges and managing data and AI to gain useful customer insights and real-time operational efficiencies.
Winner: Nokia & China Unicom – AI driven Smart Wireless Analysis Tool (SWAT), an AI-based replacement for conventional 4G/5G field tests yielding impressive benefits.
Autonomous operations
Deploying scalable and sliceable autonomous networks is key to unlocking the power of 5G and edge computing.
This award recognizes companies that are successfully navigating the hybrid challenge of operating legacy and new environments, detailing the business operations needed to develop new services at the edge.
Winner: Telstra & Ericsson – Composite Orchestration (Ordering and Orchestration Management) of hybrid services in a NaaS Architecture, automating the delivery of complex edge solutions for enterprise customers, demonstrating the power of Network-as-a-Service.
Beyond Connectivity
The arrival of 5G and AI-enabled IoT systems is creating new B2B2x service opportunities. From new forms of media and entertainment to smart manufacturing, robotics and logistics, transport, health and smart cities, each sector is experimenting with its own digital future.
This award recognizes companies that are enabling tomorrow’s connected ecosystems, by blurring lines between physical and digital business.
Winner: Viettel Money – The leading digital financial ecosystem, bringing mobile payments and financial services to the unbanked, with 20 million users.
Cloud native IT & networks
The industry is moving to open, cloud native architectures for IT and networks, to deliver faster time-to-value and dynamic zero-touch operations.
This award recognizes company visions, victories and battle-scars from their cloud migration journey.
Winner: Axiata Digital Labs – Axonect Hybrid/Multi cloud orchestrator to enable Axiata Digital Transformation, providing a consistent platform to generate efficiencies and create monetization opportunities across multiple Axiata Group operating companies.
Customer experience & trust
Creating personalized, differentiated experiences that deliver value to both enterprise customers and consumers remains a priority for the industry.
This award recognizes companies that are delivering differentiation, data-driven, customer-centric strategies and decision making, and harnessing AI to secure brand loyalty.
Winners:
Nokia & China Mobile – Proactive home broadband customer experience management by China Mobile Fujian Branch Company and Nokia, an innovative solution to improving broadband services using AI to optimize and customer experience based KPIs.
Openserve – Openserve Connect App – A wholesale innovation initiative, delivering significant customer experience benefits by giving consumers direct access to support on the wholesale broadband network.
Human factor
Organizational structures, mindsets and culture are evolving as a new generation of technology and business thinking is being used to drive digital transformation.
This award recognizes companies that are working with the new generation of leaders striving to optimize performance, drive business transformation and build the workforce of the future.
Winner: Vodafone Turkey – Using Customer Experience to Improve Employee Engagement and Grow Business Value, including organizational innovations to support digital transformation and optimization of network operations using common customer experience KPIs across departments.
Sustainability
While providing vital services to billions of people around the world, our industry is awake to its social and ethical responsibilities to create a sustainable future.
This award recognizes companies that are applying new technology and innovative solutions to enhance our societies and protect our environment.
Winner: Huawei & China Mobile – Green 5G Promotes Sustainable Development, making networks and data centers greener with a wide range of innovative applications delivering proven benefits.
“Our mission at TM Forum is to unlock the growth and potential of our industry, ensuring connectivity evolves to meet the needs of the next wave of digitization. This year’s winning projects showcase the ingenuity of our industry at a practical level, and illustrate the value of code, standards and blueprints co-created by TM Forum members in our labs. Congratulations to all the winners and finalists, and sincere thanks to our independent judging panel for their unstinting efforts,” commented Nik Willetts, CEO of TM Forum.
Individual awards:
Distinguished Fellowship award winner: Guy Lupo – NBNCo – Guy was recognized for this instrumental work in Cloud Native Networks projects as he led the introduction of Network as a service (NaaS) standards and implemented these standards at Telstra. In addition, Guy is assisting with Autonomous Networks by leading the precursor work needed to support connectivity as a service through the catalyst ‘Covered access for ODA’.
Distinguished Engineer award winner: Steve Harrop – Vodafone – Steve Harrop has been a Chair for TM Forum member projects for the past five years and has been instrumental in rolling out the Open API Project. As an experienced Systems Architect and a strong supporter of TM Forum, he was influential in making Vodafone ODA compliant. Steve’s work to support the Open API project spans outside of Vodafone as he advocates for TM Forum across the industry. He has also been instrumental in rolling out training courses for members and has helped develop the structure we know today for the Open API project. As a member of TM Forum, MEF, and ONAP, he has played a vital role in ensuring our work at TM Forum is at the forefront of the conversations between standards development organizations (SDO).
John P Reilly Award winner: Lester Thomas – Vodafone – Lester has contributed to TM Forum for the past ten years and exemplified his dedication through his contributions to TM Forum’s Open Digital Architecture (ODA). As a pioneer actively creating and developing the ecosystem known today, he helped the evolution of ODA. Today we have three CSPs running on ODA, which was instrumental to Vodafone’s commitment to ODA. Lester has been an advocate for TMF’s Open API program and as Head of New Technologies and Innovation for Vodafone Digital & IT, his practical implementation knowledge about how to devise and design an open architecture, implement, and govern an open architecture across a global organization, has made a positive impact on the Forum’s strategic direction.
About Digital Transformation World (DTW)
DTW is where the industry comes together in a highly interactive experience with opportunities to meet and connect to explore how industry collaboration can inspire change and help solve some of the industry’s greatest challenges. The event will showcase over 55 hours of visionary and practical content with 100+ sponsors, exhibitors and Catalysts as well as over 150 Communication Services Providers (CSPs) and 3,000 attendees from 90+ countries.
For more information about DTW – https://dtw.tmforum.org/
For sponsorship information, contact [email protected]
About TM Forum
TM Forum is an association of member companies, which include 10 of the world’s top 10 network and communications providers and stretch across 180 countries. Our members tap into each other’s collective experiences and abilities to collaboratively solve complex industry-wide challenges, deploy new services and create technology breakthroughs to accelerate change.
We help communications service providers (CSPs) and their suppliers to digitally transform and thrive in the digital era. We do this by providing an open, collaborative environment and practical support which enables CSPs and suppliers to rapidly transform their business operations, IT systems and ecosystems to capitalize on the opportunities presented in a rapidly evolving digital world. Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.
Learn more at www.tmforum.org.
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