Johannesburg - Wits University and Telkom have signed a partnership agreement to establish the new Telkom Industry Solutions Laboratory, a commercial research and development facility dedicated to accelerating synergistic collaboration between industry and academia.
The university said the collaborative effort will pave the way for state-of-the-art innovations in telecommunications and the development of transformative digital solutions for various industries.
Telkom is a leading information and communications technology services provider in South Africa.
Video: Kamogela Moichela
The Lab is the first industry solutions lab to join the newly established Wits Innovation Centre (WIC) where minds from various disciplines converge to research, collaborate, and support innovation, from the initial stages to entrepreneurship and commercialisation.
The vice-chancellor and principal of Wits University, Professor Zeblon Vilakazi, said the WIC was the epicentre of their innovation ecosystem at Wits where they would harness a wellspring of diverse expertise and talent to solve complex, real-world problems.
“Collaboration in innovation is key and we are excited to see the cutting-edge solutions that will emerge from the Telkom Industry Solutions Lab," Vilakazi said.
Telkom Group executive for Innovation and Transformation, Maki Jantjies, said the lab is a key strategic initiative aimed at supporting innovation within the Telkom Group and was also the latest in Telkom's long-standing tradition of forging partnerships with South African universities.
"Globally, many of the most transformative inventions have been developed through innovation partnerships between industry leaders in technology and research-intensive universities.
"Similarly, this partnership with Wits aims to foster an ecosystem where creativity and collaboration will flourish - leveraging the combined expertise and resources of the Telkom Group and the University,” she explained.
She further told IOL the lab would be beneficial to students, Wits staff and the Telkom group as they are looking for products to come off the lab.
“The partnership enables us to be able to have students working within the lab, along with Telkom experts who are long in the field, as well as academics who are leading in key areas that the lab will focus on,” she said.
She said that they have unique relationships with other universities and further stated that the lab was not the only one in the country.
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