Concordia University

Ericsson Canada announced a research program led by three Montreal-based universities, École de technologie supérieure (ÉTS), Concordia University, Polytechnique Montréal, as well as with Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC).

The research program will explore how artificial intelligence (AI) can help minimize the energy consumption of 5G networks. Moreover, the research aims to help communication service providers reduce their carbon footprint and operational costs.

Ericsson says that data scientists from its Global Artificial Intelligence Accelerator (GAIA) in Montreal will support the three-year research project alongside seven professors and 27 researchers from the three universities. Moreover, Ericsson says it will bring its global expertise in the area to steer the group and push towards industrialized solutions the company can use in its products.

“5G networks are the technological backbone of our society and they represent an opportunity to
digitalize industries and significantly reduce global CO2 emissions,” said Erik Ekudden, Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer at Ericsson, in a press release.

Moreover, the outcomes of the research are expected to help strengthen ECCC’s greenhouse gas modelling solutions for the telecom sector.

Contributions from the Quebec government (through Innovation en Énergie Électrique (InnovÉÉ)) and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) will help support the project.

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The Canadian division of information and communication technology company Ericsson is entering a new partnership with Concordia University to allow employees to expand their skill set.

Employees will enhance their artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) skills in this specialized program by working with a team of researchers and graduate students from the university.

They’ll be presented with lectures and projects that discuss big data, programming, ML, deep learning, and infrastructure, in a program promised to stray away from a traditional learning environment.

It will instead allow students to bring the challenges they face at work to class and have professors provide tailored concepts that answer these challenges.

The collaboration will give Ericsson employees a new set of resources to create AI projects in a market that’s continuously developing.

“Technology changes on the front lines quickly, and ensuring our workforce has the right skill set is critical for our industry and business to stay competitive in a global economy,” said Paul Baptista, the head of Montreal research and development for Ericsson Canada, in a press release.

The program advances cross-sector partnerships and will assist the companies 5G and wireless domain experts with AI and ML tools.

“The collaboration of our researchers and graduate students with experts from industry will provide players on all sides focused time and effort to foster innovation and creative solutions that will expedite the use of AI driving the economy,” said Mourad Debbabi, dean of the university’s Gina Cody School.

The institutions have a history of collaboration. In 2019, the two, along with the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, created a security program to strengthen cybersecurity for future networks. A second collaboration came in 2020. Along with ENCQOR 5G, they created a new program to improve 5G network performance through cloud, AI, and edge computing technologies.

MobileSyrup has reached out to Ericsson for more information regarding when the program will begin and how employees can sign up. An update will be provided once the information is received.

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Source: Ericsson