Tech giant Ericsson this week announced the setting up of a Global Artificial Intelligence Accelerator (GAIA) in Bengaluru. This innovation hub by Ericsson will focus chiefly on research and development in artificial intelligence and automation. Sanjiv Tyagi, Head of Ericsson R&D, Bengaluru also announced that they are looking at onboarding over 150 data engineers by December 2019.
In an event held at The Taj in Bengaluru, Tyagi also added that GAIA facility will be key in accelerating the execution of Ericsson’s AI and Automation technologies to create data-driven, intelligent, and robust systems for automation, evolution, and growth.
He added that the reason Bengaluru was chosen as the location for GAIA was that:
- It had the necessary talent pool
- Had a vibrant ecosystem
- It was a strategic fit for Ericsson
- It aligned well with their existing R&D facility in the city
“The setting up of Global AI Accelerator in India is a testament to Ericsson’s long-term commitment to India, to the rich talent pool as well as the vibrant ecosystem available in the country. GAIA has been set up as a central unit to be able to accelerate projects across Ericsson’s portfolio across the 4 Business Areas as well as customer projects across the 5 Market Areas,” added Tyagi.
Ericsson intends to explore partnerships with telecom service providers, industry stakeholders, startups and academia to bolster innovation. With GAIA Bengaluru, they want to spur innovations that are easy to use, adapt, scale and enable their customers to capture the full value of connectivity.
“With the advent of 5G and IoT, we expect to see an explosion in the number of potential ways in which we will use the networks of the future. The traditional methods of managing and running networks will no longer scale. AI/ML-driven automation will be a necessity to manage these networks. These data-centric technologies also open up the potential to tap new revenue-generating opportunities and business models for telecom service providers”, said Tyagi.
#Breaking: Ericsson establishes a Global Artificial Intelligence Accelerator (GAIA) in India. Know how this facility will be key to Ericsson's focus on research & development in AI and automation: https://t.co/L7whjS5bcq pic.twitter.com/6mAUAO4ahj
— Ericsson India (@EricssonIndia) December 13, 2018