Intelligent CIO Europe Issue 06 | Page 18

NEWS IBM adding 1,800 jobs in France and new tech training I BM has announced investments and initiatives in France that will create 1,800 jobs during the next two years in leading-edge areas like AI, blockchain, cloud computing and IoT. This is coupled with a major expansion in France of the world’s largest network of training programmes for ‘new collar’ skills. The investment in new jobs and training was announced by IBM’s Chairman, President and CEO, Ginni Rometty, in conjunction with the Tech for Good Summit, hosted by French President, Emmanuel Macron, in Paris. “President Macron is making a big bet and a smart one, that AI is going to transform every job, every profession and every industry,” said Rometty. “At IBM, we share this belief and see evidence of it every day with Watson driving exponential impact here in France and around the world. That is why we are bringing 1,800 new jobs to France to meet growing demand for AI from our clients.” IBM plans to hire business consultants, IT architects, developers and technical experts, including both new graduates and experienced professionals. The 1,800 new jobs include 400 AI-related roles IBM announced at the French AI for Humanity summit. With this new hiring, IBM is planning to strengthen its national presence by creating local competitiveness hubs with key local public and private partners, as already started in Lille and Strasbourg. “We are dedicated to building advanced capabilities alongside our clients in the communities where they operate,” said Nicolas Sekkaki, General Manager of IBM France. “IBM will continue to work with the government to make sure France has the skilled workforce necessary to take advantage of this unique era.” ////////////////// Nokia and SFR conduct first in France 5G NR call using 3.5 GHz spectrum N okia and SFR have successfully completed a 5G call using the 3GPP-compliant 5G New Radio (NR) system over-the-air on the 3.5GHz frequency band. The test took place on May 3 2018, at the Nokia 5G Test Network and Competence Center in Paris-Saclay, France. The 5G call used Nokia 5G NR technology, incorporating the Nokia 5G-ready AirScale radio platform and cloud RAN technology, together with 3GPP-compliant end-user test devices. A cloud infrastructure based on the Nokia AirFrame data centre solution was built to support Cloud RAN. The 5G New Radio NR standard, agreed by the 3GPP in December 2017, is designed to support a wide variety of 5G applications and enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) services. Nokia 5G NR systems use smart antennas to deliver multi-gigabit throughput speeds and millisecond low-latency. This will enable operators such as SFR to increase network capacity in spectrum below 6GHz frequency bands to deliver wide-area coverage. Nokia is a key supplier to SFR, specifically on the radio access network and this latest milestone is fully in line with SFR’s ambition to be at the forefront of innovation for the benefit of its customers. 18 INTELLIGENTCIO François Vincent, Head of Mobile Network at SFR, said: “SFR is developing a roadmap for the evolution of its networks that takes into account the benefits and complexity of implementing 5G. The joint projects and trials will enable us to meet future data demand in the most effective way, while exploring new ways to deliver our media content that will increase the subscriber experience.” www.intelligentcio.com