APIs are increasingly pivotal in unlocking 5G’s potential, according to Monica Paolini. They serve as the key link between networks and app developers, enabling seamless 5G integration into industries beyond just smartphones. As industries like healthcare and enterprise applications begin leveraging 5G, it’s crucial that APIs deliver the right services for these new use cases.
Matt Beal emphasized that industrial applications are driving this evolution, with network operators needing to focus on the enterprise and industrial sectors rather than just consumer applications. In addition, AI and network automation were highlighted by Chetan Sharma as critical elements for managing increasingly complex networks and supporting energy management and traffic flow. For these technologies to succeed, collaboration among diverse players is essential. As Sanjay Kumar notes, creating a successful ecosystem involves cooperation across industries, from device makers to service providers.
Alejandro Piñero:
All right, welcome everyone once again to the Fierce Network TV studio right here in Barcelona. It's very windy outside, as you might hear through that, but I like to think that's just people being blown away by the great content our panelists are sharing this week with us, but I'm sure this will be no different. The panel now is really hitting on some big notes that we've seen throughout MWC, APIs, AI network automation, so let's get right down to it. Monica, let's put you on the spot first. Can you talk to us a little bit about the role that APIs play when it comes to providing seamless 5G?
Monica:
Well, I guess that what most people think about APIs is just a way to monetize resources. And certainly there is that aspect to it, but I think that there is a much bigger and more important aspects, which APIs have the potential to break 5G to the app developers and to create the connective tissue, the glue with the app developers. And this is something that in the industry we sorely miss. And we need, in order to make revenues and whatever, first of all you need the relationship. And APIs are really a good tool to do that, so I really look forward to that.
Alejandro Piñero:
Excellent. And Matt, from your perspective?
Matt:
Yeah, so as one of the companies building industrial applications to run on 5G, it's essential, but it's also essential that they be APIs that we can actually use, that deliver the types of services that our industrial applications use. We're not so interested in the smartphone economy anymore. We're interested in the enterprise and industrial economy and that's the future of our society's transformation.
Alejandro Piñero:
Awesome. Sanjay, I know you had some thoughts as well.
Sanjay:
Yeah, sure. I mean, great points. I think APIs are absolutely integral as far as 5G is concerned. Think about 5G and the promise of delivering network slicing. APIs will help to create those network slices and then services on top of that as well as developing applications as was mentioned. So API is an absolute integral part of this. I think what's really required is for the industry to come together and define some standards so that you have interoperability and then you have a much seamless path for 5G.
Alejandro Piñero:
Yeah. And I want to get to that point in a second, but first, let me give Chetan here a tough gig, which is to talk about AI and network automation in a little snippet. Obviously huge topic this week and across the industry. What are your thoughts on key message on that?
Chetan:
I think AI has become a necessity for the networks because the networks have gotten too complex and the amount of data that's being traversed through the network is in terabytes and terabytes on a per hour basis. And so it's through AI you can manage the traffic as well as operationalize a lot of the functions as well as other areas like energy management are only possible through effective use of AI in the network. So AI plays a critical role as we go forward.
Alejandro Piñero:
Absolutely. And let me close. I love this panel because we have folks from different parts of the ecosystem, the industry, so I want to really bring home that point around the ecosystem and bringing everyone together to deliver on all this promise and technology. So Matt, why don't we start with you. Can you talk a little bit about the role that partnerships play? And of course Oracle play across different sectors, different players, so would love your perspective.
Matt:
Well, we like to go after the world's hardest challenges and they're complex. And no one entity, no matter how big you are, can solve them on your own. So what we're building right now are industry solutions that bring together the best of our cloud, our applications, partner ecosystems around devices, around healthcare, other providers, multiple industries, and the carriers. So all of that, bringing it together is just requiring collaboration at a level that we can't do without our partners.
Alejandro Piñero:
Absolutely. Well, let's go down the sofas here. So Monica, why don't you share your thoughts?
Monica:
Yeah, I'm going to say something. So you're talking about bringing people together. I would say that from the telecom perspective, what we need to do as an industry is to become less telecom-centric so that we can actually work with everybody else because we cannot expect them to join us. To some extent, yes, but we need to actually open up to them as well, so be less telecom-centric.
Alejandro Piñero:
That's a great point. Yeah. And Chetan, what are your thoughts?
Chetan:
I think kind of tying the API and the collaboration piece together, the only way startups can work with the behemoths in the industry is through collaboration and zero-touch interaction and collaboration with the operators. And so that's a necessity for the ecosystem.
Alejandro Piñero:
Absolutely. And Sanjay, you're going to bring us home here.
Sanjay:
Thanks. So I think what we do at Arrcus is provide networking solutions that sort of bring the convergence of AI and 5G for telcos and enterprises. And the key is really to try to help them monetize the services at the same time help them contain costs. The collaboration is absolutely important to build an ecosystem, but starts with getting the customer's point of view on defining specifications, then an ecosystem of vendors that come together to build these solutions that can actually help the customers. And the kind of things that we are doing right now with Liberty Global, for example, alongside with Fujitsu, Philips, Eviden and others to try and deliver applications at the edge with AI. And that's a solid example of how we can all come together to really solve the problems.
Alejandro Piñero:
Brilliant. Well, listen, we gave you a tough task, five minutes to talk about these huge topics. Well done. Thanks for joining us here at Fierce Network TV and have a great show.
Chetan:
Thank you.
Matt:
Thank you.
Monica:
Thank you. It was a pleasure. Thank you.