Virtual meeting launched the governance committee of the OpenRAN Brasil project

The first kickoff meeting of the OpenRAN Brasil management committee took place on 9/23, a program that aims to accelerate the development of the open network ecosystem based on research, development, innovation and training in 5G technologies and applications.

The meeting marked the launch of the committee that deals with the governance of the project, which is supported by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MCTI) and whose implementation is in charge of the National Education and Research Network (RNP) and the Research and Telecommunications Development Center (CPQD).

The committee brings together representatives from MCTI, Anatel, the Ministry of Communications (MCOM), the Brazilian Association of the Electrical and Electronics Industry (Abinee), the Brazilian Association of Internet and Telecommunications Providers (Abrint), Conexis, TIP, P&D Brazil, in addition to RNP and the CPQD.

MCTI's Secretary of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, José Gustavo Sampaio Gontijo, opened the meeting and highlighted the pioneering spirit of institutions involved with OpenRAN in the country. “When we started talking about OpenRAN, we understood that, even though it was a scenario for a few years from now, Brazil would need to be prepared, with human resources, companies that could provide services and develop applications and systems that would run in these parameters that are still under development”, said the secretary.

According to Gontijo, the successful history of the development of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in the country over the years makes Brazil invited to collaborate with those who are at the forefront of global technologies. “Not just with other countries, but also with companies that are investing heavily in these technologies”.

The director of CPQD, Alberto Paradisi, and the director of Research, Development and Innovation at RNP, Iara Machado, presented the three phases of OpenRAN Brasil, as well as the strategic Governance committee and its mission to those present. The meeting took place virtually and was open to suggestions on how each sector present (industry, government, operators and academia) can contribute.

Professional training for OpenRAN Brasil is an important point

“The committee highlights the importance of governance for the program. It is our bet to build a model of engagement between partners, to discuss, meet the demands and bring relevant deliveries to the project”, said Iara

Machado, who also presented the other five program committees: Execution Monitoring, Relationship, Communication and Marketing, Training, Technical and Testbed.

Also present at the meeting, RNP's Director of Engineering and Operations, Eduardo Grizendi, highlighted the importance of the meetings for the project. “It is an aggregator project, a 'conductive optical fiber' to speed up the testbeds (experimentation and demonstration environments) and make these actions viable in practice.” Currently, the program is in phase 1 (testbed implementation) with a point in Campinas (SP), at CPQD headquarters, and in Rio de Janeiro.

Training and education for open technology were identified as strategic themes, as well as the adoption of open and disaggregated solutions and adaptation to the Brazilian reality of the project.