Ericsson is joining forces with an Ottawa organization to launch a new facility aimed at helping emerging companies in fields such as robotics and AI develop cutting-edge technologies. The Kanata-based Centre of Excellence in Next Generation Networks announced this week it is partnering with the Swedish telecommunications and networking giant to create a “living lab” […]
Ericsson is joining forces with an Ottawa organization to launch a new facility aimed at helping emerging companies in fields such as robotics and AI develop cutting-edge technologies.
The Kanata-based Centre of Excellence in Next Generation Networks announced this week it is partnering with the Swedish telecommunications and networking giant to create a “living lab” where up-and-coming tech ventures will be able to validate and test products in areas such as smart building, robotics and advanced artificial intelligence.
The organizations said the new facility, which will be based at Bayview Yards, will include “advanced infrastructure, expert support, and real-world testing environments” featuring "pre-commercial 5G technology" designed to help startups and scaleups get their inventions to market faster.
Companies hosted at the facility, which has been dubbed the 5G Advanced Performance Living Lab, will also have access to Area X.O., a 100-acre space in Ottawa’s south end run by Invest Ottawa. The site contains advanced networking equipment and other smart-city infrastructure designed to test drones, driverless vehicles and other technology such as autonomous agriculture equipment and specialized defence products.
The new facility at Bayview Yards is one of eight “living labs” CENGN plans to open over the next several years in British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec where startups from across the country can test, validate and certify emerging technologies and IP.
Ericsson and fellow industry giants Nokia and Rogers will provide state-of-the-art infrastructure such as advanced 5G networking and cloud technology for the test labs. The federal government announced late last year it was contributing $45 million to the program.
Jean-Charles Fahmy, the organization’s president and CEO, told Techopia last December the new facilities will bring together “like-minded” partners from industry, post-secondary institutions and the startup community to commercialize new products.
CENGN said it hopes to assist more than 100 Canadian startups and scaleups through the program, which will focus on areas such as smart mobility, smart buildings, advanced manufacturing, robotics, smart agriculture and network technologies.
While the labs will be located in three provinces, Fahmy said locally based companies and organizations such as Invest Ottawa, which operates Bayview Yards and Area X.O, will play a major role in the program.
“The Ottawa ecosystem is one of the centres of gravity for advanced networking ecosystems in Canada,” he said. “A lot of our partners are based here, and that allows us to have close collaboration with them. We look forward to being able to continue that.” 
