MATRIXX Software, a global leader in 5G monetization solutions, announced that it has signed TM Forum's Open Digital Architecture (ODA) manifesto. Building on its industry leadership advancing adoption of cloud native principles, MATRIXX sees TM Forum's Open Digital Architecture as critical to the evolution of modern telcos. As operators increasingly embrace distributed architectures and multi-vendor solutions, they'll need specifications and compliance assurances to effectively implement and operate. Cloud native, vendor independent solutions, fueled by open APIs, are central to the ODA manifesto and fulfill the vision of transforming to a modern, agile service provider. "The move towards componentization and the application of cloud native principles will be key to the future of telco" "The move towards componentization and the application of cloud native principles will be key to the future of telco," said Marc Price, CTO of MATRIXX Software.

What are the best use cases for artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning in communications service providers' businesses? What's the best architectural approach to implementing AI? Do we need an industry-agreed architecture? If so, what should it look like? These are questions TM Forum is setting out to answer. At Action Week in September, Forum members took the initial steps toward forming a new collaboration working group on AI and machine learning, which is a specific type of AI.

A number of product launches this week aim to help operators navigate an increasingly software-centric world by better leveraging their networks and moving toward becoming digital businesses. At TM Forum, Netcracker made its most recent platform release with the launch of Netcracker 12. The new platform expands internet of things support as well as integrated artificial intelligence capabilities in Netcracker's analytics, incorporates virtualization support in operations management and is generally focused on helping operators speed service deployment and deepen analytics-based insights across customer interactions as well as their own internal ecosystems. Ari Banerjee, Netcracker's VP of strategy, said that long development cycles and limitations of physical services have inhibited operators' ability to compete with over-the-top providers. "The service offering base needs to be broadened," he added, saying that Netcracker 12 is focused on "helping them move toward becoming digital service providers."

Infosys, a global leader in consulting, technology, outsourcing and next-generation services, today announced that it has been awarded in the'Best in Show' category by TM Forum Live! Asia". TM Forum is a leading global industry association for digital business. The award was given for the'Cognitive Digital Agent' - a project championed by Globe Telecom, Philippines along with Infosys, Amdocs and Huawei. The project demonstrated the feasibility of using cognitive computing technologies aligned to telecom business processes to enhance customer experience in a more intuitive and natural fashion. To address changing consumer needs and demands in today's digital economy, Infosys, along with Huawei and Amdocs, established the Cognitive Digital Agent - a five-month project, led by Globe Telecom. This was aimed at creating the next generation of customer care services, leveraging artificial intelligence technologies. The core solution is driven by Infosys' expertise in natural language processing, machine learning and cognitive computing. The Cognitive Digital Agent has the capability to address complex queries and answer questions through omni-channel access including interactive voice responses (IVR), portals and wearables. The Cognitive Digital Agent creates a difference in situations where, if a call center is contacted, the responses are generated using natural language processing - making them more consumer friendly, or on social media platforms and in smart watches where the machine agent responds to queries 24x7. TM Forum recognized the project for some of these exceptional demonstrations of business outcomes across channels, and the inventive use of machine learning and Artificial Intelligence (AI). "Our goal has been to explore the use of cognitive computing and artificial intelligence technologies such as natural language processing and machine learning to create the next generation of customer care services, which, in turn, enabled us to create this compelling project that can significantly improve customer satisfaction.