Huawei Australia has joined Cisco in becoming a platinum sponsor of the University of Melbourne’s Institute for a Broadband-Enabled Society (IBES).
At a ceremony in Melbourne, Huawei representatives signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with IBES to support the recently-established reseach centre's efforts.
The networking vendor will "also explore the potential of establishing a joint Research and Development Centre in Melbourne", it said in a statement.
IBES was launched with $2 million in Victorian Government funding within six weeks of the Federal Government’s announcement of the National Broadband Network (NBN) in April last year.
Since its inception IBES has been running a series of workshops around the university for researchers to interact and throw up ideas for new projects and possibilities for research.
The institute has researchers working on projects across five research themes: Education and Learning; Health and Wellbeing; Social Infrastructure and Communities; Service and Business Transformation; and Network Deployment and Economics.
IBES Director Professor Rod Tucker told Computerworld last year that he expected both the number of themes and researchers to grow over time, with up to 100 people forecast to be onboard this year.
“The commitment from Huawei, as well as the continuing support of the State Government of Victoria, ensures that IBES will play a key role in the development of an Australian society that is ready for a broadband-enabled future,” Tucker said in a statement welcoming the MOU.
Other organisations supporting IBES include: Microsoft, Telstra, AARNET, Alcatel-Lucent, Optus, Ericsson, Allied Tellesis, PBN, Haliplex, NEC and NICTA.
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