Ericsson and Japanese communications service provider KDDI have successfully demonstrated cloud-native CI/CD (Continuous Integration/Continuous Delivery) pipeline delivery for KDDI’s standalone 5G Core network – a breakthrough in delivering software features speedily and efficiently.

The container-based technology enables automatic deployment of new software and functionalities, while maintaining the high quality and availability of the 5G Core network.

Communications service providers need faster and more efficient software delivery models to reduce time-to-market for new features. Given the complexity of telecommunications networks - where solutions are often comprised of multivendor products with real time applications - legacy delivery mechanisms will be insufficient to cope with the demands of 5G networks. Ericsson’s cloud-native CI/CD delivery model addresses this challenge.  

Ericsson and KDDI partnered to create a cross-organizational end-to-end 5G CI/CD pipeline – moving from native to virtualized and cloud-native network functions.  The pipeline seamlessly deploys software from Ericsson’s product development units into the KDDI’s environment without human intervention.

The CI/CD pipeline speeds up the software acceptance process through the advanced automation of software distribution, deployment, validation and feedback, while reducing human-error risks.

It shortens time to market of new software from months to weeks. Ericsson’s CI/CD pipeline enabled KDDI to deploy complicated sliced and distributed network functions more easily through simplified workflows.

Jan Karlsson, Head of Business Area Digital Services, Ericsson, says: “Our market-leading 5G core and unique CI/CD capabilities mean faster time-to-market, higher performance and cost efficiency. Agile delivery of services while maintaining high quality and availability is a must in 5G Core networks. Our CI/CD end-to-end software pipeline achieves this. We are happy to continue to work with KDDI to automate their network operation.”

Companies join to bring a powerful device level protection that helps secure the most vulnerable IoT and edge devices, in markets such as industrial and utilities, from outsiders, insiders, and supply chain attacks.

NanoLock Security, the market leader of flash-to-cloud protection for IoT and connected edge devices, announced it is joining with Adesto Technologies Corp.  to collaborate on flash-based embedded security and management solutions for low-density flash memory devices used in products such as smart meters, sensors and controllers in smart energy, water utilities, industrial facilities and more.

The Adesto and NanoLock solution provides a hardware root-of-trust in the device’s flash memory that blocks unauthorized modifications to prevent persistent control of the device. The control of flash updates is moved from the vulnerable remote edge device to a trusted entity in the utility data center, ensuring that only validated commands and updates will modify the flash. In addition, the hardware root-of-trust provides reliable and valuable data such as attack alerts, status reports, and detailed forensic data.

The solution is particularly important for critical infrastructure, where threats can come from various attack sources, e.g., outsider attacks (such as state-level attackers), insider attacks, and off-shore supply chain attacks. To keep infrastructure safe, it is crucial that remote connected devices, such as smart meters, are protected throughout their entire lifecycle from production line to end-of-life.

NanoLock’s technology protects connected edge devices from the moment they are created on a factory floor by prohibiting malicious code from being written into the flash, and provides protection and monitoring throughout the device’s entire lifecycle. This approach is both processor-and operating system-agnostic and requires virtually zero system processing power, which is critical for power-sensitive IoT devices.

“The addition of NanoLock’s flash-to-cloud security and management technology to our flash memory devices can provide robust, device-level defense and trustworthy management for a wide range of low-density IoT devices from smart meters to door locks,” said Graham Loveridge, VP marketing, semiconductor products, Adesto. “Traditionally, providing this level of security in low-density flash devices has been a challenge. We’re excited to team with NanoLock to show that we can provide it at an attractive price point.”

“NanoLock’s patented technology alongside Adesto’s novel flash technology delivers an important additional layer of protection and monitoring for utilities and industrial companies,” said Eran Fine, NanoLock CEO. “Through our alliance with Adesto, we are able to seamlessly secure a variety of IoT devices, such as smart meters, controllers and sensors, to bring new levels of protection and control to connected infrastructure.”

The service conference circuit is a crowded one. For professionals who operate in a time-precious environment choosing the right event to attend, where you can garner the most amount of value for your time is an important business decision. Sharing challenges with other delegates, gaining insight on new tech and sharing a coffee with colleagues should be part of your event requirements.

In this special edition of the Field Service Podcast Becky Johnson from WBR who is overseeing the content at this year's Field Service Connect talks us through the speaker acquisition process: from the initial research involved and the overall honing of the talks and debates. Being close to the trends in the industry Becky also shares some of the insight she has gained during this research process. It's a fascinating listen.

You can reach out to Becky on LinkedIn here. 

Smart manufacturing sector could benefit from collaboration.

Ericsson and Telenor Sweden have signed an agreement making Telenor the first mobile network operator worldwide to join the Ericsson Industry Connect partner program and become a reseller of Ericsson Industry Connect.

Industries and enterprises are transforming as the digitalization of their processes, products and services accelerate. Highly reliable mobile broadband with the capabilities of 4G and 5G is becoming increasingly more important for industries to improve efficiency and flexibility in their operations, drive innovation and to stay competitive.

With this new agreement, Telenor Sweden’s industrial customers will now be able to explore and utilize the full potential of IT-centric LTE networks customized for smart manufacturing applications. This agreement is a significant step, paving the way for future 5G applications across the sector.

Ericsson’s partner program provides a vehicle for communications service providers to resell connectivity technologies to their customers. It also enables independent software vendors, system integrators and tech device partners to offer software, services, and devices as part of the Industry 4.0 ecosystem. 

Kaaren Hilsen, CEO, Telenor Sweden, said: “We are proud to be the first operator joining Ericsson´s Industry Connect partner program and are ready to play a pivotal role in this exciting sector. The manufacturing industry is one of the first to truly reap the benefits of 5G, and this partnership extends our portfolio with a solution that allows Telenor Sweden to capture new opportunities in industrial verticals and improve business outcomes for our customers.”

Åsa Tamsons, Senior Vice President and Head of Business Area Technologies & New Businesses, Ericsson, said: “Industry 4.0 needs secure, reliable, wireless connectivity. By leveraging our 4G and 5G capabilities and adopting Ericsson Industry Connect, Telenor Sweden can now offer its industrial customers a unique cellular connectivity solution that increases efficiency and productivity for the smart factories of the future.”

Study shows Machine Learning, Cloud and Process Automation key part of software.

The application software sector is undergoing profound and rapid change, according to data and analytics firm GlobalData.

The company’s latest report ‘Tech, Media, & Telecom Trends 2020 – Thematic Research’ reveals how the value was historically all in the application itself but is now driven by the integration of software. Listed below are the top application software technology trends, identified in the study:

Cloud Computing

The cloud is an important model for IT resource delivery. The growth of application programming interfaces (APIs) has made sharing data easier and encouraged the development of new applications. A new wave of platform services will use artificial intelligence (AI) to increase operational efficiency and automate workflow controls. Advanced platforms will enable intelligent apps and improve user experience. 

Process automation:

Process automation refers to robotic process automation (RPA), in which new developer technologies will help shore up various phases within the application lifecycle. RPA uses AI, low-code platforms, and software robotics to automate manual processes. Industrial IT providers will continue to invest in RPA innovation.

Machine learning:

Machine learning is a high priority for businesses everywhere. There are relatively few AI specialists, and developing a model is a time-consuming and resource-intensive process. As the market matures, enterprises will incorporate data from a variety of sources into their machine learning models.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) libraries:

To overcome the skills gap, vendors are designing products specifically for people without data science skills. Vendors are offering translation services, speech-to-text, natural language generation, image recognition, and video analysis to non-AI specialists. 

Data will become a key differentiator, and an enterprise’s ability to manage and glean insights from it.

Conversational platforms:

Conversational platforms employ a variety of technologies to enable human-like interactions with computer systems. Virtual personal assistants like Amazon’s Alexa or Google’s Assistant can schedule appointments, provide weather updates, and play music based on voice commands. In 2020, application platform providers will develop user interface (UI) tools to support advanced conversational platforms.

Open source AI:

AI relies heavily upon open source (OS) technologies. Google's machine learning framework, TensorFlow, is a prime example of this trend. Released via the Apache OS license in 2015, TensorFlow is currently available to developers across most public cloud platforms. Investment in OS AI technologies will proceed apace, particularly among vendors selling both open and proprietary technologies.

Augmented reality (AR):

AR allows the user to see the real world overlaid with a layer of digital content. Having come to worldwide attention in 2016 with Pokémon Go, the next two years will be pivotal for AR. Its chances of crossing over to the mass consumer and corporate markets will be determined by the richness and variety of AR content, the development of smartphone applications, and the arrival of all-in-one glasses. 

Workplace health and safety has come a long way in recent years. Companies are now more aware of the affect that workplace incidents can have on their employees as well as the financial implications it brings. It’s a shift prompted by stringent regulation and legislation – particularly in the UK and Europe - and a desire to build health and safety into the business structure. As part of our coverage of the latest FSN Think Tank Mark Glover reflects on how the group discussed workplace safety and why culture is crucial…  

When it comes to a implementing a workplace safety culture, companies must lead from the top with a board and management buy-in that filters down through the organization to the shop floor.  

Its integration however is a huge business challenge, a process that firms should viewed as a strategic change management process. Of course, any large shift in thinking and mentality is difficult, especially if an attitude has become embedded.  

Two things that can alter attitudes to safety is understanding the brand and financial cost to a company if an incident occurs. In the UK stringent legislation and heavy fines serve to encourage firms to take their safety processes seriously, it means some companies now build the potential consequences of an incident into a business case that forms their health and safety strategy. 
One example of this is the utility firm EDF who operate a number of power stations in the UK. These assets are high-risk and high-profile, and the firm in an effort to embed safety into the culture of the organization now associate health and safety with its bottom line; if you have a nuclear power station that is not inherently safe then it will affect its share price quite significantly.    


A financial influence is one strand of safety adoption, yet to become embedded in a company’s outlook, health and safety should be approached psychologically. Today, when health and safety consultants come into a company tasked with improving its culture, they do so with the mind of a psychologist rather than a tick-box instigator.    

Firms with a large employee count, which is often the case in manufacturing, can find it difficult to home in on individuals who have always done safety a certain way which can often be outdated and potentially dangerous.   

"More generally, health and safety suffers from bad PR, perceived as something that enforces red tape and stifles creativity and productivity..."

Psychologically then, humans will eventually apply an unconscious bias to tasks they carry out on a day-to-day basis. Once something becomes routine then it becomes an unconscious process. Carrying out risk assessments is a common yet important task in the workplace however Its repetitive nature makes it vulnerable to such a bias, and it remains one of the key challenges in the sector to ensure employees are engaged when carrying out such activities.   

Jan Van Veen, founder, More Momentum commented, “What you need to do to change that is make sure that everybody understands the pitfalls and then establish key habits and put a system in place where you can communicate effectively with your workforce to say ‘I think we are falling in this pitfall’.” 

Building on this point Mark Wilding, Director of Global Aftermarket Operations, Hexagon Marketing Intelligence added: “One of the thing that we looked at that I think we overlook quite a lot is the human factors associated with this, because there are, and you talked about stress, there are human factors in people’s day that cause them to overlook or make mistakes, which ultimately could end up in a hazard or a risk.   

And if you don’t get underneath the human factors aspect then we can put all the safety bulletins out but we’ve not addressed the underlying distractions, things that go on.” 
More generally, health and safety suffers from bad PR, perceived as something that enforces red tape and stifles creativity and productivity. Although this attitude has improved in recent years it is still seen as something of a burden to employees; something to catch them out. Having a pragmatic approach to health and safety that is backed up with strong statistical evidence, can be a sensible approach rather than introducing a critical author with a clipboard.   

Looping back to the beginning of this section, it’s paramount to embed health and safety in a company’s overall strategy and a firm’s performance culture more generally. Most service firms strive to achieve general quality and integrity in everything they do and would never dream of cutting corners in a service task. The same thinking must be applied to safety.  

IFS’s business applications for FSM, ERP and EAM can now connect large and fast-changing data pools using Boomi’s integration capabilities, global enterprise applications company says.

In the Big Discussion we bring together a panel of industry experts and focus on one key topic within the field service sector. In the final part of this series on AI our panellists, FieldAware's Mark Tatarsky and ServiceMax's Amit Jain, discuss if the technology compliments a wider strategy or can it operate in a silo.

Ericsson has launched two new artificial intelligence (AI)-powered offerings in its Network Services portfolio, enabling communications service providers to secure always-on networks and deliver optimal user experiences.

The two new portfolio additions — Network Intelligence and Omni Network Channel – are part of  Ericsson’s Network Services offering. They employ AI, automation and predictive analytics to address the complex reality faced by communications service providers: exponential data growth and the continuous introduction of new technologies such as 5G, digital transformation, and scattered information sources and insights.

Network Intelligence is an AI-driven preemptive support service that allows issues to be identified and resolved before they impact network performance. The service prevents critical outages and delivers the network stability needed for service continuity and optimal end-to-end performance.  Ericsson research shows that Network Intelligence reduces critical incidents by up to 35 percent by carrying out selective data collection, and automatically resolves issues within an average of five minutes from data collection.

Omni Network Channel is a unified digital workspace for interaction between the communications service provider and Ericsson, providing easy navigation, self-help and smooth collaboration. The workspace enhances network performance and consumer satisfaction through faster resolution of both the communications service provider and Ericsson operations’ issues. It also facilitates the adoption of new technologies such as 5G and supports communications service providers with the competence development of their personnel.

Roger O’ Hargan, Head of Service Area Networks, Ericsson, says: “Our core value is ‘Technology enhanced by people’ where people, framework and technology are our main assets. These new offerings are all about putting the service provider in the center by enabling self-help as well as smooth collaboration, co-creation, and easy access to data – all of which will help secure an always-on network experience.”

Justin van der Lande, Principal Analyst at Analysys Mason, says: “There is a demand among service providers for a more transparent interaction with their vendors when dealing with network issues. Ericsson’s intelligent workplace technology, boosted by the expertise of their people, addresses this well. This approach leverages the scale of Ericsson’s operations, its well-established frameworks and its wealth of industry knowledge to bring significant benefits to the service provider. Ericsson’s AI-powered Network Services are now readily accessible with shared data insights that put the customer experience front and center.”

Network Intelligence is built for product-near use as a natural extension of the Network Services portfolio. It is complementary to the Ericsson Operations Engine, Ericsson’s offering for managed operations, design and optimization launched in January 2019.