- Telkom has announced a partnership with Wits university to launch an Industry Solutions Lab.
- The Lab will serve as a research and development facility for collaboration between business and academia.
- It will also fall under the recently launched Wits Innovation Centre.
Telkom and the University of Witwatersrand (Wits) held an opening ceremony earlier today to mark the launch of a new Industry Solutions Labs that the two are partnering on.
The Telkom Industry Solutions Lab will serve as a research and development centre aimed at enhancing collaboration between industry and academia, the pair explained. It will also form a part of the recently launched Wits Innovation Centre.
“Bringing together multi-disciplinary teams from Wits, the Telkom Group, and beyond, this collaborative effort will pave the way for state-of-the-art innovations in telecommunications and the development of transformative digital solutions for various industries,” a press release sent to Hypertext explains.
“The new initiative formally came into being at a ceremony today where, on behalf of the Telkom Group, BCX CEO, Mr Jonas Bogoshi and Wits University’s Vice-Chancellor and Principal Professor, Zeblon Vilakazi signed the agreement launching the venture,” it adds.
While we are yet to see what the Lab can produce, it is designed to assist in the ideation, research, collaboration, and support of innovation. Telkom and Wits note that this includes everything from the initial stages of a project to entrepreneurship and commercialisation.
The Lab will be led by a team of Telkom and Wits research and innovation leaders. These include Dr Maletsabisa Molapo, executive for Research and Innovation at Telkom, and Letlotlo Phohole, senior programme manager of the Wits Innovation Centre.
“The WIC is the epicentre of our innovation ecosystem at Wits where we 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,” highlighted Vilakazi.
“Projects will span industry products and solutions, applied research for specific industries, disruptive innovation driven by local challenges, advanced technology solutions, and industry-led fundamental science and engineering,” the release concludes.
