Telefónica today announced that it is committing another US$200 million in Telefónica Open Future_, a program which integrates all open innovation initiatives of the Group via its Communications Investment Platform (CIP), a new investment vehicle formed in partnership with Coral. Telefónica Open Future_ and CIP will seek to further accelerate and expand Telefónica’s global transformation into a “digital telco”, and help the company to position as a major market player in areas such as next generation networks, big data, machine learning, and the Internet of Things.
As a leader in the CIP, Telefónica Open Future_ is establishing itself as a front runner in forming “innovation factories” to accelerate the creation of new and disruptive technologies to benefit Telefónica’s 320 million customers.
Telefónica and Coral intend to expand the reach of the CIP with up to four additional communication service providers around the world with similar commitments to real innovation, leveraging upon each other’s innovations. With these additional partners, the CIP is expected to have up to US$1 billion to invest in new technologies and services that will reach 1-2 billion customers.
The investments in the CIP further supplements Telefónica Open Future_’s open innovation initiatives and strong support to global tech entrepreneurs and startups through its 310 million euros pre-existing commitments to the Open Future_ global online acceleration platform and crowdworking spaces.
