20 September 2023 – Another milestone in DOST-ASTI and AORA’s partnership comes on the heels of their joint event on the Future of Connectivity with Open RAN and Open Networks held last July, and just last week, the announcement of the 2023 Information Society Innovation Fund (ISIF Asia) Grant recipients. 

The two organizations inked an agreement for AORA to be an implementing partner to the ISIF Asia-funded project, Open Network Testbed Laboratory for Internet Technologies Deployment and Experimentation (ON-IDLE).  

The partnership intends to set in motion research collaborations on 5G and Open Radio Access Network (RAN). One of the major outputs of the project is the setup of the INNOVATE Open Networks (ION) Laboratory, which will serve as testbed or staging platform for benchmarking, proof-of-concepts, use-cases, and collaborative research on new, experimental or enhanced network and Internet operations tools, systems or applications.  

According to DOST-ASTI Director Franz De Leon, “We would like for the ION Lab to be an interim lab while the planned Interoperability Lab is under works, and later on, become part of the network of labs that are expected to spur innovation and R&D activities on new communications and network technologies.”  

Another research opportunity that will be explored through this project partnership is the interface between Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) and Open RAN technologies. AORA Chair Achie Atienza says, “Though Open RAN and IPv6 are distinct from each other, both are in the sphere of next-gen networks, and both address issues of scalability, interoperability, and security.”  

This work is supported by a grant from the APNIC Foundation, via the ISIF Asia. Visit their online platforms: 

• Facebook: @ISIF.asia, @APNICFoundation 
• Twitter / X: @ISIF_Asia, @ApnicFoundation
• Linkedin: @apnic-foundation 

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