TM Forum, the global not-for-profit association focused on digital transformation, announced three new directors of its board of trustees: Shankar Arumugavelu, GCIO, Verizon Communications; Peter Leukert, GCIO, Deutsche Telekom AG; and Anthony Rodrigo, GCIO, Axiata Group.
The board of directors has overall responsibility for the organisation, on behalf of its 850 corporate members, and sets strategy, direction and priorities. The Board represents a balance of communication service providers, software companies, equipment suppliers and systems integrators.
David Pleasance, chairman of TM Forum’s Board of Trustees said: “The Forum’s focus on the practical mechanics of digital transformation, including more than 50 Open APIs, an Open Digital Architecture, a Digital Transformation Model and Tracker, along with rapid proof of concept Catalyst projects, is fueling member engagement worldwide. Our strong and practical vision of a digital world that benefits people, planet and profit, combined with practical steps to get there is leading more companies to become members. I’m delighted that Shankar, Peter and Anthony are joining the Board – they bring a huge amount of experience, influence, and a strong vision.”
“At Verizon, we are focused on giving humans the ability to do more in this world – we call it humanability,” said Shankar Arumugavelu, Global CIO, Verizon. “It’s important to partner with visionaries from across various industries and understand how we can use our technology to help turn their innovations into tomorrow’s realities. I’m excited to join the Board of TM Forum, and to collaborate with other companies with a similar vision to create meaningful impact together.”
Dr. Peter Leukert, Global CIO Deutsche Telekom said “At Deutsche Telekom we believe that life is for sharing. TM Forum is about sharing experiences, developing shared perspectives and sharing the journey towards becoming digital service partners. I am honored and excited to be invited to play a central role in these exchanges. They will benefit our customers, Deutsche Telekom and the industry.”
Mr Anthony Rodrigo, Global CIO, Axiata Group said “As one of the leading telecommunication groups in Asia, Axiata has been an early driver of connectivity and technology in some of the world’s fasting growing and most challenging markets. In emerging Asia economies, we see that technology is great leveler to democratise access to opportunities across societies.”
“As Axiata continues to transform into the next generation digital company, I am excited to share our learnings from the region on our efforts to piece together the best in innovation, connectivity and talent with the goal of digitally empowering communities through communications, infrastructure and digital services.”
“I want to thank TM Forum for the honour of being appointed to the board and I look forward to both contributing towards its advancement and learning from peers as the Forum gets to grips with the tough realities of digital transformation that our customers want, our industry needs, and society can benefit from.”
Nik Willetts, chief executive of TM Forum said, “I’m delighted that more influential global leaders are joining the Forum’s Board. Their guidance on our priorities of: helping the industry to navigate digital transformation; creating unprecedented operational business agility; and knowing how to manage and monetise digital ecosystems, will be most welcome.”
“Their combined knowledge of leading large-scale transformations onto cloud-based platform business models, deploying Artificial Intelligence, and using APIs to increase operational agility, will be particularly useful. The Forum continues to collaborate across the industry as communication service providers transform into the ‘digital service partners’ of the next decade.”
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