• 50 industry leading software vendors and service providers have achieved conformance certification for more than 470 Open APIs 
• TM Forum launches three new initiatives to drive industry to next level of standardization and conformance 

DTW 2022, Copenhagen, Denmark – September 20, 2022:  TM Forum, the industry association driving digital transformation through collaboration, today announced a key milestone for its Open API program. The 67 Open APIs, having already achieved industry-wide adoption with 565,000 downloads worldwide, now boast more than 470 conformance certified implementations by 50 leading companies. These include leading Communication Service Providers (CSPs) such as Verizon, Bell Canada and Reliance Jio, who now top the Open API certification leaderboard.  

With TM Forum Open APIs now widely adopted and conformance certification growing rapidly, the Forum today announced three new initiatives to drive the next level of industry-wide Open API standardization and conformance:   

1. Real World Certifications: Real World Certification independently validates conformance of Open APIs for live implementations, giving service providers and their partners greater confidence and transparency. Verizon, Bell Canada and Jio are the first to achieve the new certification, while Tecnotree and MTN are the first to achieve a joint certification. 

• Domain Context Specialization (DCS): While the extensible design of Open APIs allows the same API to be used for a multitude of use cases, standardizing Open API payloads simplifies deployment for specific applications such as 5G slicing and wholesale access.  Standards Development Organizations will also be able to use this approach, known as Domain Context Specialization (DCS), to develop application-specific payloads using the TM Forum Open APIs framework.

“TM Forum Open APIs eliminate the need for custom integration, and by design they’re extensible, meaning the same base API can be used for almost any use case,” said George Glass, CTO of TM Forum. “Domain Context Specialization allows us to simplify deployment by creating standardized payloads where there is value in doing so. This ensures a single Open API can carry different standardized payloads, dramatically reducing the need for technology-specific management and orchestration APIs.”   

• Asynchronous APIs and OAS 3.0 support: Open APIs are continuously evolving to support the latest technologies and architectural needs. New upgrades from Forum member professionals working in TM Forum Labs include release of the first 10 V5 APIs, which support the latest OAS 3.0 specifications (enabling a simplified structure that supports greater reusability and improved security), and the first Asynchronous (Async) Open APIs, a key requirement TM Forum’s Open Digital Architecture as it evolves to be an event-driven, AI-ready architecture.   

Scott Petty, Chief Digital and Information Officer, Vodafone and TM Forum Board lead for ODA commented, “We now use Open APIs for every interaction. We embrace cloud-native approaches to every software release and we commit to ethical data analytics and AI practices across our organization. Backed by a large team of API experts, we can re-use the best software and launch the best applications at the same time across multiple countries to give our customers, developers, and strategic partners universal support”. 

DTW 2022 in Copenhagen this week will showcase the breadth and depth of Open APIs use across the industry, as well as underpinning the majority of the 27 Catalyst projects demonstrating at the event, with use cases ranging from intent-driven network orchestration to digital business marketplaces.  

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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