Xyna GmbH | News

News

Monday, May 26, 2025

Open API Manifesto

Xyna Bulletin #23

Dear friends, partners, and customers of Xyna, When you're as focused on exciting new features and projects as we are, you rarely get to write a newsletter. That's why this issue is only reaching you now, at the end of May – when major events are already casting their promising shadows.  In less than four weeks, this year's dtw ignite!, the TM Forum's flagship global conference, kicks off in Copenhagen. This year, we'll be there with our Xyna booth (booth #227) and part of the Catalyst "Broadband as a Service" team (kiosk i 1.6).  In advance, we signed the TM Forum's Open API Manifesto this week. We commit to following the guidelines for interoperability between ODA components based on Open APIs with Xyna, wherever appropriate. More on this below. Enjoy! Best regards from Mainz, Philipp :: Xyna and the Open API Manifesto The TM Forum Open API Manifesto is a public commitment to an open, standardized, and collaborative approach to IT architecture design. https://www.tmforum.org/open-api-manifesto/ To date, over 200 providers and suppliers have committed to supporting the basic principles of Open APIs and implementing them in their products and projects. And from now on, we too find ourselves among this illustrious group: This is remarkable in that just a few years ago, such a development was not necessarily foreseeable – at least from our perspective. The TM Forum had already had interesting approaches with NGOSS, eTOM, TAM, SID, and others, but these were only of limited relevance to the truly "hard" projects in the telco industry. Since the evolution toward ODA with the core concept of Open APIs gained momentum in 2022/2023, we've seen the concepts of Canvas, Components, and Open APIs take on real form in more and more customer projects. This is also impressively reflected in the TM Forum's figures: We've been a member of the TM Forum again since the end of 2023. In 2024, we had a fantastic presentation on the topic of NETWORK AS CODE at dtw ignite together with Deutsche Telekom. This year, as the Technical Lead of the Catalyst project BROADBAND AS A SERVICE, we are already deeply rooted in the community's structures. Anyone who has known us for a while knows that we don't follow short-term trends unless absolutely necessary. And certainly not some random institution. But here and now, we see the TM Forum and the Open Digital Framework as a sustainable, important, and industry-defining concept that works not just theoretically in PowerPoint, but concretely in demanding projects. The benefits of Open APIs as an open standard for interoperability, flexibility, and scalability have already been proven. Therefore, we are also investing in training and continuing education regarding the standards – the first certifications have been achieved. In the coming months, we will expand this in a structured and broad-based manner among our architects and consultants.  At the same time, we are continuing to develop the TMF tools in Xyna: recently, Xyna learned how to handle newer Genv5 and DSC API definitions. This has been important both in customer projects and in the Catalyst demo project we will present in Copenhagen. :: dtw ignite: Catalyst "Broadband as a Service" & Xyna We have already reported on our Catalyst project in recent Bulletin issues. It concerns the standardization of wholesale processes and interfaces between ServCo (service provider for the customer) and NetCo (network operator, especially infrastructure provider in the fiber optic sector). Such interfaces already exist today; however, they vary from country to country, often with proprietary characteristics, different technical implementations, and no uniform service model – making them complex to implement for CSPs and software providers active in more than one country. Based on open APIs and standardized ODA components, we demonstrate in Catalyst what a blueprint for wholesale could look like, in which the parties or their applications such as SQM, POM, SOM, or ROM communicate with each other based on TMF938. TMF938 – if that doesn't mean anything to you, the keyword Domain Context Specialization (DCS) is a good starting point. In this standard, structures from common open APIs are essentially collected and directly pre-populated with context-specific values for the wholesale domain. A very new and innovative concept, even for the TM Forum. If you want to know more (and are a member of the TM Forum), the in-house magazine "inform" has published a detailed article on the Catalyst:   https://inform.tmforum.org/features-and-opinion/standards-are-key-to-simplifying-wholesale-broadband-worldwide Karsten Thon, Wholesale Business Architect, Program Management Wholesale Interfaces at Deutsche Telekom, and Egil Risvoll Sørensen, Vice President IT Wholesale at Lyse Tele in Norway, among others, report on the goals and findings of the Catalyst under the headline "It's crucial to have standardization." (And if you don't have a TM Forum account but really want to read it, feel free to get in touch; I think we'll find a way...) Enjoy reading! Or even better: we look forward to seeing you in Copenhagen. If you're there and want to see the results firsthand, live, and in color—come on over! We'll be there. 😊 

Tuesday, April 1, 2025

Xyna & NETCONF & YANG

Xyna Bulletin #22

Dear friends, partners, and customers of Xyna, No April Fools' joke – the latest bulletin newsletter is presented to you today by me as a guest author: I'm Kai from Xyna Consulting & Innovation; many of you might know me, as I've been involved in numerous projects and product developments over the past 15 years. In a few weeks, the legendary IAB Network Management Workshop [RFC3535] will be 23 (!) years old. Back then, the foundation for the development of the NETCONF protocol was laid. The goal was to finally move away from CLI scripting, which, according to participants' estimates, was used to perform around 70% of network configurations at the time. Well, over the past 20 years, we've also come across NETCONF (and the later proposed YANG data modeling) at one point or another. A great project, but the ultimate goal of a market-dominating methodology hasn't been achieved yet – and is probably utopian. The use cases and scenarios of today's provider networks are too diverse for that. And yet, we are seeing a renaissance of NETCONF & YANG in various areas, so much so that last year we began developing and expanding functions for modeling NETCONF RPCs based on standardized YANG structures. With the recently released version 10.3, Xyna brings a fresh wave of additional features. Enjoy reading! Best regards from Mainz,Dr. Kai Schorstein :: Xyna NETCONF & YANG The development of NETCONF (Network Configuration Protocol) and YANG (Yet Another Next Generation) began in the early 2000s, when the need for better network management tools became apparent due to the increasing complexity and size of networks. NETCONF was originally developed by the IETF to provide a better alternative to existing configuration protocols such as SNMP and CLI. The first version of NETCONF [RFC 4741] was published in December 2006. It aimed to create a standardized interface for configuring network devices, complemented by useful features such as transaction-based changes (implemented via versioned config datastores in the NETCONF server), which commit network configurations only upon complete and successful execution. In parallel, YANG was developed as a modeling language for the data transferred by NETCONF. YANG was designed to overcome the shortcomings of existing data modeling languages: in particular, the models should be both machine-readable and easy for humans to understand. YANG was officially published in October 2010 [RFC 6020]. In summary, YANG provides the structure and parameters that can be configured (the configurable elements of the network device, e.g., routing protocols, services on ports, or security settings), while NETCONF represents the protocol with which the configuration data is exchanged securely and efficiently between the management system and the network device. "Exchanged" because NETCONF was designed from the outset to allow messages to be sent "downstream" from the provisioning system to the network via RPCs, and, conversely, messages and status from the network to be passed back "upstream" in the form of notifications. In newer (SDN) scenarios, multi-level settings are often found, based on TM Forum domain structures or other layering paradigms. Here, Xyna can assume the role of both a higher-level orchestrator and a network-level controller thanks to its flexible configuration via modeled workflows and services: The concrete implementation in Xyna, illustrated below using the example of a top-down RPC for service provisioning, essentially takes place in three major steps: 1a) Importing Models By importing the YANG modules, the basic data structures are created in the factory. We support both open (e.g., IETF or OpenConfig) and native models (e.g., from Cisco or Juniper). Additionally, the vendor-specific device capabilities are read in or queried via a yang-library request. This is where the tension between standardization (IETF, ETSI, etc.) and native models becomes apparent: due to proprietary extensions, especially for complex services, the NETCONF client must be able to handle vendor-specific extensions and interpretations in the YANG model. It remains the task of the activation system to provide the configuration parameters in the required structure for each network element. 2) Modeling Operations Operations are elementary transactions between the client (Xyna in the role of controller) and the server (device), which are defined via capabilities. An operation, for example, is an atomic command to persist the current /running config in the config datastore. Xyna supports all relevant YANG structures (keywords) such as leaf, deviations, identity, extension, feature, list, choice, assignments, etc. 3) Automation Workflows In the final step, the basic operations can be further developed into complex fulfillment workflows in the style of the usual Xyna models and integrated into a system and process landscape. :: NETCONF & YANG – A miracle tool for everything? As always and forever: nothing is just great and works perfectly. NETCONF and YANG also have their advantages and disadvantages, perhaps due to their long history and the key areas that were important in network management 20 years ago. We've written a bit above about the advantages and opportunities of API-based, standardized network configuration. One of the biggest challenges is probably the strong focus of device support on service configuration—the "PUSH" component. The PULL area (monitoring, events, status), which was included from the beginning via the notification mechanism, hasn't made it into reality as much over time. Which is a shame, because the more dynamic networks become, the more important a 360° view of the network becomes—not just configuration (and monitoring via separate channels), but a mindset more toward integrated DevNetOps for true closed-loop operation.

Wednesday, February 19, 2025

Accelerate!

Xyna Bulletin #21

Dear friends, partners and customers of Xyna,  as we approach the climax of the fifth season in the home of Xyna (Helau!), a delegation from GIP Exyr visited the beautiful city of Cascais in Portugal last week. 🌴 Between palm trees and whiteboards, the TM Forum Accelerate workshop took place, a kind of prelude to dtw ignite! in June - with a focus on standards, frameworks, code and of course the Catalyst projects. In this issue we report on the kickoff of our Wholesale Catalyst and the findings and requirements that arose from it for Xyna. Enjoy reading! Kind regards from Mainz, Philipp & Alexander :: Accelerate | Cascais 2025 The TM Forum has a variety of formats - large trade fairs, small calls, a broad audience and special interest groups. A very special event takes place every year at the start of the year: the Accelerate workshop. For several years now, it has been held on the Atlantic coast of Portugal in Cascais, which gives this event a sophisticated and warm atmosphere. Accelerate means: 4 days of international class reunion, hackathon, committee work for standardization and contact exchange for Catalyst projects. This is exactly where the building blocks of the ODA (components, open APIs) are created or they continue to develop along the trends and requirements in the Telco ecosystem of the coming years. From autonomous networks to AI-enabled automation to information systems architecture. For all programs and initiatives, the key people in the industry come together to define the guard rails for the future: providers, software manufacturers, network equipment suppliers and consultants. We focused on two aspects that are particularly important for our projects in the coming months: the further development of the Open APIs (Gen5, DCS, Async) and the kickoff for the Catalyst project “Broadband as a Service Phase II”. In the project, we will work with service providers, fiber optic providers and other BSS/OSS vendors to create an end-to-end chain for wholesale processes. We will focus on the eTOM chains Request-to-Answer (customer requests a product and receives back the options available at their location) and Order-to-Payment (i.e. order management, fulfillment and activation). The processes run via various IT systems at the service provider (buyer, L3 service) and, in our case, also at the wholesale partner involved (seller, L2 route). Among other things, we will look at the following components: Product Configuration, Order Capture & Validation, Service Qualification, Service Catalog, Product Inventory, Order Orchestration, Service Order Management, Resource Order Management, Resource Activation. An ambitious task for the foreseeable period until June - but we are confident because we have been able to put together a strong team. The overall project manager, Patrik Farkas (Vodafone Group) is supported by Alexander (GIP Exyr / Xyna) in the role of Technical Lead. And of course, with Xyna we have a powerful tool that can take on different roles (components) thanks to the generic support of the Open APIs in conjunction with the modeled workflows: regardless of whether it is about parameter mapping, service orchestration or resource activation. We are currently teaching Xyna how to handle 5th generation Open API specifications, and within the framework of Catalyst, functions for DCS specifications will follow, i.e. "Domain Context Specializations", application-specific concretizations / collections of various Open APIs in a composite interface. The DCS standard TMF938 for wholesale broadband will be created in Catalyst. Outlook: Hands on the mouse and book your flight to Copenhagen today: we will be present at the Catalyst kiosk, but also at Booth #227 with our own stand, where we will present the achievements live and in color to all interested visitors: https://dtw.tmforum.org ... and of course, if you happen to be on vacation at that time, you can always contact us. We are always happy to present the Xyna technology for exciting use cases.

Tuesday, January 14, 2025

Welcome 2025 - Broadband Wholesale Catalyst

Xyna Bulletin #20

Dear friends, partners and customers of Xyna, The new year has already passed the first 4% - we hope everyone has started well, healthy and optimistically. Despite challenging times in global politics, we are looking forward to the upcoming events and news about Xyna Factory; and we hope that you will all enjoy following our journey via the Xyna Bulletin newsletter in 2025. We want to start, in keeping with the New Year, with a classic bang: together with AT&T, BT, Telekom and Vodafone - as well as other providers and suppliers - we are taking part in a large, transatlantic Catalyst project of the TM Forum: Broadband as a Service. Motivated by our project successes in using open APIs and orchestrating ODA-compliant fulfillment chains with Xyna, we now want to go one step further: in the Catalyst project, we are demonstrating end-to-end automation (BSS + OSS) of wholesale processes for B2C and B2B fiber broadband products using standardized interfaces and functional components. In February, we will meet with our partners in Cascais (Portugal), and at the dtw ignite! in Copenhagen in June, we will show the results live and in color. We will of course keep you updated on interim results here. Enjoy reading! Best regards from Mainz, Philipp & Alexander Xyna GmbH PS: Do you know colleagues who are also interested in the topic of Xyna? Then please spread the word! A short reply with contact details to bulletin@xyna.com is enough. If you are not interested, just send us a short email and we will remove you from the mailing list. :: TM Forum Catalyst | dtw ignite! 2025 Driven by the rapid development of fiber optics, which is characterized by the emergence of new infrastructure providers, the wholesale market is becoming increasingly important in Germany and in many other countries. In contrast to DSL infrastructure, there will be significantly more NetCos in the future, i.e. companies that have sovereignty over access and aggregation fiber optic routes, but are not or not always active in the ServCo area, i.e. offer access products for enterprise or residential markets. Of course, there are already structures, committees, processes and interfaces in the wholesale market in Germany and other countries. Keywords: Open Access, S/PRI, Interfaces & Processes Working Group, WITA, WBCI, KFT tests & Co. In many markets, very different, proprietary spheres for wholesale have emerged over the last 20 years. Some with more, some with less government regulation. But never compatible with each other. Neither in terms of the commercial and technical processes, nor in terms of the interfaces with which BSS and OSS systems are linked for wholesale / wholebuy. Not a good situation for providers who have to constantly restructure their processes for each country - but also not a good situation for system manufacturers who cannot standardize their products (functions and APIs), which leads to individual projects with high costs and low reusability. The "Standardizing Wholesale Broadband - Fibre Access (BFA)" project has been running in the TM Forum for several years. In 2024, a first Catalyst was created from this, initially with a focus on BSS & Order Management. Phase II will follow in 2025 as an end-to-end chain - and we are part of it! Broadband as a Service:The future of wholesale broadband orderingPhase II Link to the official Catalyst website (TM Forum) The project consists of three "levels" of participants: firstly, the major service providers: AT&T (US), BT Group (UK), Vodafone (UK + DE) and Telekom (DE). Then there are fiber optic providers such as OXG (DE), Lyse (Norway) and CityFiber (UK), who generally do not offer end customer services, but have developed fiber infrastructure and offer (L2) services on the OLT-ONT route. And we have a number of software manufacturers on board: alongside us, Axiros (ACS), Altice (OSS), Comarch (BSS/OSS), amartus (Wholesale Automation / Order Management) and alvatross (BSS/OSS) are also involved in Catalyst. For several weeks now, we have been working on use cases, processes and the coupling of the systems or functional components involved via open APIs. Classified in the structure of the Open Digital Architecture (ODA). Since we can use Xyna Factory to map all types of open APIs including catalog structures for services and resources plus associated workflows very well, we feel more than up to the task and look forward to the exchange!  The next milestone is a project meeting in February in Cascais, Portugal. In addition to the hopefully spectacular big waves in nearby Nazaré, an intensive week full of workshops and spec sessions awaits us there to further develop the joint idea and prepare the demo that we will present at the dtw Ignite! trade fair in Copenhagen in June.   https://dtw.tmforum.org/ Of course, “Save the date” already applies – we will be present with Xyna both at the Catalyst exhibition and with our own booth at the exhibition.

Tuesday, November 12, 2024

Xyna x Python

Xyna Bulletin #19

Dear friends, partners and customers of Xyna, Today we are happy about a particularly nice topic - Xyna Factory is likely to win many new friends. Because with the current version of Xyna (10.1, available since October 4th) we support Python! Calling Python scripts outside the factory has always been possible; this time, however, we are talking about fully integrated modules that can access all factory features, as has always been the case with Java. You will also find an overview of the current supported base (system infrastructure) of Xyna at the end of the newsletter. Enjoy reading! Kind regards from Mainz, Alexander & Philipp Xyna GmbH Dr. Alexander Ebbes & Philipp Dominitzki :: Xyna x Python Our Xyna Factory is implemented in Java, the most popular programming language in the world in the long term. Therefore, the programming of the so-called coded services is also done in Java. But of course we always keep our finger on the pulse: Coming from the field of data science and AI, Python is currently the hottest programming language for new developments. Python is valued for its ease of learning and its effective expression options. That's why we are offering support for Python from Xyna Factory 10.1 onwards to develop coded services. These Python modules offer the full integration that you are used to from Java, such as access to variables in the workflow context. The original Python language scope is offered and any packages can be loaded and used. For example, the libraries from the Cisco Developer Network or the Automation Scripts from Juniper. There are almost no limits to the developer's imagination. When implementing, we saw two major alternatives: Either we use Jython, a Python virtual machine implemented in Java, which essentially turns Python into a language executed by a JVM, like Scala or Kotlin. Or we use JEP, where CPython is used to run a "real" PVM alongside the JVM and the objects used together are exchanged in serialized form via JNI between both VMs. - We have chosen the second option. The first option was closer in integration, in particular there were no copied objects. But Jython still only supports the language scope of Python 2.7, which is no longer considered "alternative" but rather outdated. With JEP we can always use the latest leading Python implementation (currently 3.13) and are therefore always up to date. So that Python programmers feel really at home in Xyna Factory, we have not slaughtered one of the "sacred cows" of the Java community, but have made it optional: the getter and setter methods. Java programmers consider these to be an almost mandatory criterion for good style. In Python, people rely on the shorter dot notation and consider this to be pragmatic and concise. We understand both approaches and their respective motivations. Therefore, Xyna Factory views these different programming cultures liberally and would like to welcome all Python programmers as first class citizens. To this end, we have implemented their native dot notation as an alternative syntax and added it to the JEP functionality. In this way, we enable every programmer to express themselves according to their own principles. As always: if you want to find out more, contact us. :: Xyna Supported Base / Autumn 24 Over time, Xyna's Supported Base is continuously updated. Driven by technical developments and new releases from manufacturers, as well as new requirements from our customers. The current Supported Base (Xyna 10.1) is as follows:

Wednesday, October 23, 2024

ISMS, NIS-2 & Co. - BSI attestation

Xyna Bulletin #18

Dear friends, partners and customers of Xyna, Autumn has begun - and we actually wanted to introduce you to some exciting features and extensions of Xyna 10.1 in this issue. But the BSI got there before us - so today we have some news from the area of cyber security to announce. Enjoy reading! Kind regards from Mainz, Philipp Xyna GmbH Dr. Alexander Ebbes & Philipp Dominitzki :: Successful audit: BSI IT baseline protection at GIP Exyr The Network and Information Security Directive 2 (NIS 2) heralds a new era of cyber security in Europe ... even if the debate in the Bundestag at the beginning of October on the government version of the NIS2UmsuCG ("Law on the implementation of EU NIS2 and strengthening cyber security") was probably quite sparsely attended by the number of Bundestag members: Image source: German Bundestag / n24 Well, even if our ladies and gentlemen in Berlin are obviously not very enthusiastic about the topic: for our customers - and for us as part of the KRITIS supply chains - the implementation of this EU directive will mean a lot of work and responsibility. To put this into a few figures: the number of companies affected by cyber security requirements will grow from around 4,500 (previous KRITIS sphere) to a good 30,000 in 18 different areas. With record losses of €178 billion from cyber attacks this year, this is certainly a good idea, because for many companies - including those that supply IT and software for critical infrastructure - topics such as secure-by-design, defense-in-depth or thread modeling are still unknown territory. A key requirement for all participants in KRITIS supply chains is the establishment of a comprehensive information security management system (ISMS) based on the BSI IT basic protection. It forms the basis for dealing with the growing threat situations, strengthening resilience against cyber threats and implementing security aspects in the early design phases of IT applications. Protecting our IT infrastructures is not only a legal obligation, but also a decisive factor for the future security of our society and economy. So much for the preface - now for the good news: on October 21st, GIP Exyr GmbH successfully passed the IT basic protection audit! The audit was carried out according to the audit scheme of the Federal Office for Information Security (version 2.0 dated April 11, 2022) by ATM Consulting, a consulting company specializing in cybersecurity with BSI approval for ISMS audits. Our auditor Mr. Gremeyer has a history in the IT / Telco sector with stints at Vodafone, Deutsche Bahn, EDS, Telekom, etc. - and was able to bring a lot of context and understanding of our work into the audit process. If you are interested in something like that: the BSI has an overview of the ongoing certification procedures for ISO 27001 based on IT-Grundschutz. We are in illustrious company there: And what happens next: the certificate we have now received certifies the progress and a very good interim status of our plan to obtain full ISO 27001 certification. For this, we still have to complete some elaborations and adjustments to our processes before we start the certification process at the beginning of 2025. We will of course keep you up to date on this. If you would like to learn more about our efforts in cybersecurity and IT resilience, or how the BSI requirements are reflected in our products and individual developments, please contact us at any time...

Tuesday, October 1, 2024

ORM 24: KI, QC, TMF & River Raid

Xyna Bulletin #17

Dear friends, partners and customers of Xyna, On Friday we were present at the OpenRheinMain in Darmstadt (https://www.openrheinmain.org). In today's special edition we have summarized a few highlights for you. And just a little preview... to get you excited: the next newsletter (Bulletin #18, probably in about 2 weeks) will be about Xyna 10.1: the new functions for Python code snippets and the import of YANG data models. But first of all, enjoy reading! Kind regards from Mainz, Philipp :: AI vs. QC In the keynote speech at the opening of the conference "AI vs. Quantum Computing", Alexander (xyna.AI) and Dr. Thomas Ehmer from the Healthcare Digital Innovation division of Merck AG compared the two very different concepts for future computing in a dialectical dialogue. A wide range was covered, from the theoretical foundations to the history and development of the last few years to current approaches and areas of application, as reflected in the GIP / Xyna in the areas of telco networks and computational biology. And what was the outcome of the little debate? Ultimately (of course) there was no clear winner, because while artificial intelligence is currently establishing a new era of IT - even beyond the fun toy applications like ChatGPT - e.g. in the field of synthetic biology (keyword AlphaFold) or weather forecasts (keyword GraphCast), quantum computing is still in its early stages of developing from theoretical concepts to usable applications. But it is making great strides and with super exciting activities in very different industries and fields of application. There is definitely a lot to come here, and that has the potential for a real... quantum leap. :: TM Forum Open APIs In the afternoon, our colleague Sascha Krause held a session on the TM Forum Open APIs: where they come from, what advantages (and possible consequences) they bring with them - and of course how such interfaces and BSS/OSS application chains can be implemented using the new Xyna OAS / TMF functions. With Xyna 10, a whole series of new functions for API handling have been added, particularly for TM Forum Open APIs, such as Xyna TMF Validator and Xyna TMF Instantiator for validating incoming API messages against a service specification and for generating data types from the payload. Or the Xyna TMF Generator for the automated generation of service catalog entries in accordance with TMF633. If you would like to experience this live and in color, please get in touch! :: River Raid In addition to the lectures, we also had a booth at the exhibition. And this year there was a very special highlight to admire and play: an original Atari 600 XL (https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari_600XL) from Alexander's childhood room with River Raid Challenge: Luckily, the conference was only attended by students and not by schoolchildren, because who would have known: At the end of 1984, the "socially and ethically disorienting" River Raid was banned in Germany because of its "war-glorifying" and "aggression-increasing characteristics", i.e. added to the list of media harmful to minors, meaning that the game could only be offered to adults. Well... a few years later, we looked at it again and came to the conclusion that a few completely different types of computer games had been created in the meantime... And so, without any major pangs of conscience, we were able to hold a nice challenge with impressive high scores and share our winnings with the student population: 1st place: a Lego set "ATARI 2600", for which the game was originally developed2nd place: an original Xyna.AI deck chair3rd place: the book "NEXUS" by Yuval Noah Harari We congratulate all winners and participants. And we are already looking forward to the next OpenRheinMain in autumn 2025!

Monday, September 30, 2024

Xyna.AI at OpenRheinMain 2024

🇺🇸 English Version Already in 2022 and 2023, Xyna.com / Xyna.AI was a main sponsor of the OpenRheinMain conference for Open Source and Digital Technologies (https://www.openrheinmain.org). In recent years, the OpenRheinMain (ORM) has established itself as an important regional event in the Rhine-Main area, bringing together companies, research institutes, and students with interesting lectures and workshops. This year as well, Prof. Dr. Michael von Rüden (Department of Distributed Systems) and the Department of Computer Science at the University of Applied Sciences invited participants to Darmstadt – and we were the largest supporter of the event as a Gold Sponsor. In the keynote „AI vs. Quantum Computing” Dr. Alexander Ebbes (xyna.AI) and Dr. Thomas Ehmer from the Healthcare Digital Innovation division at Merck AG engaged in a dialectic dialogue, comparing the two concepts and approaches for Future Computing. The presentation spanned a wide range of topics, from theoretical foundations to the history and development of recent years, to current approaches and application areas, as seen at GIP / Xyna in the fields of telecom networks and computational biology. The rapidly advancing fields of artificial intelligence (AI) and quantum computing (QC) are at the forefront of technological innovation. Both promise to revolutionize industry and society with their unique capabilities. With Dr. Thomas Ehmer, a renowned expert in quantum computing was secured. He is a co-founder of the Merck Quantum Computing Task Force and a speaker at many conferences worldwide on the topic. He represents Merck in the Pharma Industry Quantum Computing Consortium (QuPharm) and the Pistoia Quantum Group. He is also a member of Merck Group’s working group in QUTAC – the German quantum industry application consortium. He researches quantum machine learning and optimization, evaluating various hardware platforms and determining which applications or problems are best suited to the different architectures. In addition to the keynote, Xyna.com also contributed a session in the afternoon. Dr. Sascha Krause, Consultant at GIP Exyr GmbH, provided students and conference participants with an overview of the TM Forum Open APIs: where they come from, the advantages (and potentially consequences) they bring – and, of course, how such interfaces and BSS/OSS application chains can be implemented using the new Xyna OAS and TMF functionalities. In addition to the presentations, Xyna was also represented with a booth at the exhibition. Visitors had the opportunity to experience workflow automation with Xyna Factory live, including the OAS / TMF API automation showcased in Dr. Krause's presentation. This year also featured a very special highlight: an original Atari 600 XL (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari_600XL) with a River Raid challenge and great prizes – culminating in fantastic winners with impressive high scores! All in all, it was a very successful event – and we are already looking forward to continuing it next year. Stay tuned for more exciting developments and insights into our work, and join us at future events. We look forward to engaging with you!

Thursday, September 5, 2024

OpenRheinMain 2024

Xyna Bulletin #16

Dear friends, partners and customers of Xyna, After a focus on Telco-OSS at the TM Forum in Copenhagen in the spring (see Bulletin #14), the fall will again be more strongly influenced by AI & Open Source: this year's OpenRheinMain in Darmstadt is coming up! On September 27, Alexander will open up an area of tension between artificial intelligence and quantum computing in his keynote speech - and has been able to secure a renowned co-speaker for this in the form of Dr. Thomas Ehmer from Merck. We are also contributing a session on the TM Forum Open APIs - and in general, the ORM has brought together so many exciting topics and speakers again this year: don't miss it >> Register (https://www.openrheinmain.org). Enjoy reading! Best regards from Mainz, Philipp :: Xyna.AI at the OpenRheinMain 2024 We were already a main sponsor of the OpenRheinMain conference for open source and digital technologies in 2022 and 2023. And this year, Prof. Dr. Michael von Rüden (Department of Distributed Systems) and the university's Department of Computer Science are inviting you to Darmstadt: The ORM has established itself as an important regional event in the Rhine-Main area in recent years and brings companies, research institutes and students together with interesting lectures and workshops. Participation is free, but registration is worthwhile! https://www.openrheinmain.org This year we are active under the label Xyna.AI as the main sponsor of the ORM. We are looking forward to a lot of large and small companies with very different focuses and contributions: Alexander will give the keynote speech of the day together with Dr. Thomas Ehmer from the Healthcare Digital Innovation division of Merck AG. AI vs. Quantum Computing Synergy or rivalry? A dialectical debate on applications in computational biology, healthcare, telco networks, and crypto. Thomas is co-founder of the Merck Quantum Computing Task Force and a renowned speaker at many conferences worldwide on the topic. He represents Merck in the Pharma Industry Quantum Computing Consortium (QuPharm) and the Pistoia Quantum Group. He is a member of the Merck Group working group in QUTAC - the application consortium of the German quantum industry. He researches quantum machine learning and optimization and evaluates different hardware platforms and which applications/problems are best suited for the different architectures. A little background on this: the rapidly evolving fields of artificial intelligence (AI) and quantum computing (QC) are at the forefront of technological innovation. Both promise a revolution in industry and society with their unique capabilities. In the keynote, Alexander (AI enthusiast) and Thomas (QC expert) will address the transformative effects of these technologies on various areas in the form of a "dialectical debate", in particular on synthetic biology and healthcare, but also on telecommunications networks and cryptographic technologies. In addition to the keynote, we are bringing another session for the afternoon. Our colleague Sascha will focus on the TM Forum Open APIs: where they come from, what advantages (and possibly consequences) they bring with them - and of course also show how such interfaces and BSS/OSS application chains can be implemented using the new Xyna OAS functions: Dr. Sascha KrauseTM Forum Open APIs - Standardizing the Telco BSS/OSS Application Landscape As you can see, it definitely won’t be boring – and we look forward to your visit to our exhibition stand, where you can experience Xyna live and in color as always.

Monday, August 12, 2024

Xyna 10 :: The Next Generation

Xyna Bulletin #15

Dear friends, partners and customers of Xyna, ☀️ While summer is raging outside, we would like to bring a little light into the shady corners with a new bulletin. To where all of us, who have already had our summer vacation or are still looking forward to it, retreat. ☀️ A big birthday was coming up - which we of course celebrated appropriately: with a firework of exciting new functions: Anyone who has known Xyna for a while knows that the major version numbers are not based on years, but on relevant technological leaps. And with the introduction of artificial intelligence into workflow automation (XyPilot) and an extensive new feature set around generic support for OAS-based interfaces (Xyna OAS App), such a point has been reached. Stay tuned and take a look at the sources (GitHub) or use the brand new image on Dockerhub directly. Enjoy reading! Kind regards from Mainz, Philipp Xyna GmbH Dr. Alexander Ebbes & Philipp Dominitzki PS: Do you know colleagues who are also interested in the topic of Xyna? Then please spread the word! A short reply with contact details to bulletin@xyna.com is enough. If you are not interested, just send a short email and we will remove you from the mailing list. ::  Xyna 10: The Next Generation The story of Xyna begins in 2003/2004, when we saw potential for product development based on requirements in consulting and development projects with various providers: the goal of a flexible configuration of IP products in the then emerging "Next Generation Network". The DNA of the GIP ("Society for Industrial Physics") contained the basis for industrial production - and so the Xyna Service Factory was created, a platform for the process-oriented and order-controlled production of IP services. Over the years, Xyna has undergone a whole series of changes. While the first versions still relied on third-party workflow engines (the "Red Edition" on Oracle Fusion Middleware, the "Blue Edition" on IBM WebSphere, ...), the foundations of the self-developed software stack that still form the cornerstones of Xyna today were created from 2010 onwards: the Fractal Modeller, the XMOM Master Object Management or the self-similar modularized structure of the Factory Module with Departments, Sections and Function Groups. From this point of consistent focus on a self-developed product, a line leads to the year 2022, where the change from a proprietary licensing model to an open source approach again marked an important turning point in Xyna's product development. Today, Xyna is in excellent health in an open approach, accompanied and supplemented by models for commercial security for use in critical infrastructures and complementary consulting and project offers from GIP Exyr. Demonstrated as a preview at the TM Forum in Copenhagen and now, almost 20 years after Xyna 1, the best Xyna ever is available: The format of the Bulletin newsletter is hardly suitable for fully covering the variety of new functions and updates to known features. Therefore, in the coming issues of the Bulletin, we will be taking a closer look at the world of Xyna 10, bit by bit. For here and now, the highlights: XyPilot - your AI partner: XyPilot uses artificial intelligence (GitHub CoPilot) to help you create and optimize coded services, data models and documentation.Xyna OAS App: offers generic support for OAS APIs, including the increasingly popular and important TM Forum Open APIs. This makes building OAS-compliant architectures child's play and enables seamless integration into corresponding system landscapes.Xyna Test Factory: Long Time no See --- the Test Factory is back, and with it the paradigm with which we were able to celebrate a breakthrough in the field of process-oriented testing many years ago: testing processes with processes. Xyna Visual Mapping: it has never been so easy to marry complex data structures from different sources and with different sinks. Xyna 10 is just waiting for you. If you like things a little more raw, you can download the source repositories on GitHub. And for the easy-going faction, a ready-made image on Dockerhub is just waiting to be started with a click of the mouse.  https://github.com/Xyna-Factory https://hub.docker.com/r/xynafactory/factory You're rightly excited about what awaits you. And our offer again: we'd be happy to look around the area with you. Help with the first steps... think about how use cases can be implemented... in an uncomplicated way and through the shortest possible channels. Get in touch! :: Xyna Roadmap / more to come The current Xyna version 10.0 has been available since July. Our team is currently working with mid-summer enthusiasm on the next version 10.1, which will be released in October. And we already have a number of great and important ideas for the following release 10.2 at the beginning of next year: What you can expect soon: Python support: has long been on our list of ideas, now in the works: so far, you could only program in Java in the workflow-integrated Xyna code snippets, soon also in Python. Lightweight, contemporary, versatile. Both languages have their advantages and justification - and in addition to personal preferences and previous knowledge, there are also concrete advantages of Python such as transparency and speed.YANG importer: the RFC for YANG will soon celebrate its 15th birthday and the modeling language has certainly not fulfilled all the expectations that were once associated with it in these years. It has neither definitively ushered in the SDN era nor has it replaced all other methods for modeling configurations. But YANG is enjoying a certain popularity, especially in the Cisco environment, and there is no doubt that in combination with NETCONF interesting functions for controlling network elements arise. We are currently evaluating the range of possibilities for how Xyna could handle YANG models and how the interaction between Xyna and YANG with NETCONF as the transport protocol should ideally look. A first step will be the import of YANG models so that parameters and data structures are integrated in the Xyna XMOM universe. ... further thoughts will lead us in the coming months towards AI-controlled networks, AI Network Operations & Co. As always, the following applies here too: if you are interested in one or more topics on the roadmap, want to take a look at a beta version of the Xyna development, have exciting use cases or even new ideas: get in touch! Because the Xyna roadmap is not a fixed star with an unchangeable position in the development sky. New features and extensions are not an end in themselves but always relate to specific requirements from projects or to necessities from the further development of the technology environment. We are and will remain flexible and open to your suggestions.

Tuesday, July 2, 2024

Network as Code – Xyna at the dtw ignite in Copenhagen

Xyna Bulletin #14

🇩🇪 Deutsche Version Dear friends, partners and customers of Xyna, being in northern countries on the summer solstice is always a special experience - we had the pleasure of being in Copenhagen two weeks ago - and had the opportunity to visit a few highlights of the city in addition to the exhibition halls of the dtw Ignite! of the TM Forum. We found Copenhagen to be an exceptionally beautiful city. If the beer wasn't so expensive - we would have to move there 😉 Have fun reading! Best regards from Mainz, Alexander & Philipp Xyna GmbH Dr. Alexander Ebbes / Philipp Dominitzki PS: Do you know colleagues who are also interested in Xyna? Then please pass it on! A short answer with contact details to bulletin@xyna.com is enough. However, if you are not interested, a short email will suffice and we will remove you from the mailing list. Network as Code - Xyna at the dtw ignite in Copenhagen We have already written a lot about the conference itself (https://dtw.tmforum.org) in previous issues. Now the time had come and we were able to present the NETWORK AS CODE approach to a broad audience together with one of our favorite customers, Deutsche Telekom. The challenges and solutions for setting up structured fulfillment architectures in accordance with the TM Forum's Open Digital Architecture were discussed. In addition to this approach, we are considering an innovative self-learning approach that enables new network functions to be automatically incorporated into the catalog order chain. Supported by AI functions for horizontal and vertical integration. The aim is AI + Intent-based Networking a network of flexibly combinable components controlled by software (code). Open APIs were an important topic at all corners, presentations and stands at the trade fair. Perhaps the central topic this year. And as the attentive reader of the last newsletter has already noticed: with the new Xyna OAS App it is possible to import the OAS specifications of the TM Forum into Xyna and have workflow endpoints and data structures generated automatically. This makes the topic of Open APIs with Xyna child's play! ... and if this all seemed too short, too abstract or too good to be true: just get in touch, we are happy to organize private sessions in small groups. We had many good conversations, met old acquaintances and made new friends - both properly at the stand with demo and business context, as well as at the after-show parties with cocktail in hand. København, vi ses igen næste år. If you would like to know more, please contact us at any time or send us an e-mail

Monday, July 1, 2024

Successful Appearance at TM Forum: Network as Code and Innovative Solutions

🇩🇪 Deutsche Version At this year's TM Forum DTW - Ignite in Copenhagen, our Xyna Factory team was once again prominently represented. A highlight was the joint session "NETWORK AS CODE" by our CTO Dr. Alexander Ebbes and Dr. Peter Marenbach from our reference customer Deutsche Telekom. The session drew an enthusiastic audience and delved into the challenges of vertical and horizontal integration. It focused on the development of decoupled (multi) service modules in an ODA-oriented system landscape and the solution approaches using an open API-compliant automation platform like Xyna Factory, powered by our AI-driven mapping and streamlining capabilities. In addition to the captivating presentations and workshops, our booth offered numerous opportunities for engaging conversations. Visitors were impressed by the latest innovations around Xyna Factory for network automation, the AI-driven XyPilot solution, and the new Xyna OAS App for seamless Open API support. Our team was on hand to answer questions and engage in discussions, leading to a vibrant exchange with experts and enthusiasts. Beyond our own presentation, the TM Forum DTW - Ignite featured a wealth of interesting talks, workshops, and catalysts that highlighted the latest trends and technologies in network technology and automation. These provided valuable insights and inspiration for the future of the industry. With a successful appearance and many new insights, this year's TM Forum DTW - Ignite comes to an end. We thank all the visitors and look forward to the next meeting. Goodbye Copenhagen, see you next time! 🚀 Pas på København! 🚀 Stay tuned for more exciting developments and insights into our work, and join us at future events. We look forward to engaging with you!

Wednesday, May 29, 2024

Poll on RHEL - Network as Code

Xyna Bulletin #13

🇩🇪 Deutsche Version Dear friends, partners and customers of Xyna, We are currently wondering whether we should include Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) in the supported base of our commercial build Xyna.com Professional. That's why we're launching a survey in this newsletter - we'd like to know your opinion. Otherwise, we are already in the starting blocks for Copenhagen: the big TM Forum conference, dtw Ignite! is taking place in June, and we will be there. Have fun reading! Best regards from Mainz, Alexander & Philipp Xyna GmbH Dr. Alexander Ebbes / Philipp Dominitzki PS: Do you know colleagues who are also interested in Xyna? Then please pass it on! A short answer with contact details to bulletin@xyna.com is enough. However, if you are not interested, a short email will suffice and we will remove you from the mailing list. Poll: Support von RHEL We currently support the Linux distributions Ubuntu and Oracle Linux in Xyna.com Professional. From the role of a developer, this was a plausible choice: both are considered developer-friendly in the community, in the sense of: very flexible and only a few or no restrictions on the packages. On the other hand, there are commercial distributions such as Red Hat: much more restrictive in terms of packages and their version numbers. Mostly with the intention of offering a particularly stable platform --- and this can sometimes be at the expense of liberalness. RHEL has now established itself as an important (dominant?) player in the world of Linux distributions, especially for mission-critical systems, and we are therefore wondering (also in response to acute customer requests) whether we should not add it to the supported base. (... one should tolerantly overlook the fact that Red Hat itself contributes almost nothing to further development, but relies on the free community work of the Fedora project / a worthy commercial move by the IBM subsidiary) What do you think - do you think Red Hat is important? Or maybe even a completely different distribution? Write to us (either directly or to xyna@xyna.com), we look forward to your feedback! Network as code :: Xyna at the TM Forum in June ... is not what Hans-Christian Andersen's Little Mermaid said, but she should have! In a few weeks' time, we will be presenting our NETWORK AS CODE vision together with Deutsche Telekom at the TM Forum Digital Transformation World (dtw) in Copenhagen. https://dtw.tmforum.org/ Of course, we have the latest version of Xyna with us - including XyPilot, XyBot and Xyna OAS App, the new extension for easy handling / governance of OAS-based interfaces, such as the TM Forum Open APIs. If you haven't booked anything yet: it's about time. We look forward to seeing everyone who visits us at our stand (Booth 236, Hall C2). The Bella Center is also only a 1:45h walk across Amagerfælledvej from the Little Mermaid statue. And if you would like to experience the new features of Xyna live and in color, just get in touch with us. If you would like to know more, please contact us at any time or send us an e-mail

Tuesday, May 28, 2024

Network as Code – Xyna on dtw ignite, Xyna Zeta: Angular 17 support

Xyna Bulletin #12

🇩🇪 Deutsche Version Dear friends, partners and customers of Xyna, This time it's particularly exciting: the TM Forum in June is taking shape, and we're in illustrious company! Together with Deutsche Telekom we will give a lecture on the topic of “Network as Code”, embedded in the session “Building an Open API-driven Architecture”. Take out your credit cards and buy a ticket, seats are running out! ;-) ...we still have a few places available on our guest list for particularly dear friends. Get in touch. For those interested in technology, we have some good news in the second part of the newsletter: Xyna Zeta now supports Angular 17. Have fun reading! Best regards from Mainz, Alexander & Philipp Xyna GmbH Dr. Alexander Ebbes / Philipp Dominitzki PS: Do you know colleagues who are also interested in Xyna? Then please pass it on! A short answer with contact details to bulletin@xyna.com is enough. However, if you are not interested, a short email will suffice and we will remove you from the mailing list. Network as Code – Xyna on dtw ignite The Telemanagement Forum (TM Forum) has been an established authority in the world of telecommunications IT for many years (almost decades). Frameworks like eTOM or SID are legendary and have been supplemented in recent years with new approaches such as the Open Digital Framework (ODF) or the Open APIs. We have also been loyal participants for many years and have been to the conferences in Nice and Dublin. We are now looking forward to once again contributing a lecture when the world of telecommunications gathers in Copenhagen in June for the next big class reunion. Here are a few keywords that the TM Forum uses to describe itself, in case the boss doesn't want to let you go: 79% of all attendees are managers or above 10 out of 10 of the largest global operators will be there 75% of past visitors rated the quality of the event as excellent or good. Alexander will give our lecture “Network as Code” together with Dr. Peter Marenbach. He is a solution architect in the Telekom IT department at our valued customer and partner, Deutsche Telekom. https://dtw.tmforum.org In the lecture we will jointly present the idea of a TMF Open API-based production chain for network services. The Open APIs are a collection of pre-structured interface agreements between functional building blocks of a Telco OSS landscape (Assurance, Trouble Ticketing, Activation, ...). The highlight of our approach is an innovative, self-learning approach that makes it possible to automatically incorporate new network functions into the ordering chain. The goal is intent-based networking, i.e. a software (code) controlled network of flexibly combinable components. So: book a ticket – come by – listen to the lecture – visit the GIP trade fair stand 😊 ... and if that's not enough to justify a trip to Copenhagen: it's also home to the world's largest collection of unopened beer bottles (in the Carlsberg Brewery Museum). Xyna Zeta: Angular 17 support Even though Xyna is often used for fully automated scenarios, there was and still is often a need to create an individual user interface (frontend) for a Xyna-based application. For example, to supplement manual, non-automatable steps in the process, to enable research and inventory insights, or to visualize the status of orders. The first versions of Xyna Zeta has been around for several years: a GUI framework that is very closely linked to the Xyna workflows and enables the realization of adaptive, partially generated front ends via “workflow-defined UI”. A core technology of Xyna Zeta is Angular. Angular is a web application framework based on the TypeScript programming language. The open source community around Angular is still largely led by Google. Since 2014, there has been about one major release per year, with many versions serving more as maintenance and continuous adaptation to new web standards. Angular 17 was released in November 2023 - and catapulted the framework significantly forward in a number of dimensions. Google describes the step as an “Angular Renaissance”, and because the release was so important, there was also a new logo: We don't want to go into too many details here - but with the integration of Angular 17, existing and future Xyna Zeta applications benefit from a number of interesting advantages: Improved performance: Angular 17 offers improved loading times and responsiveness through optimizations in the framework and compiler, which benefits both users and developers. Stricter type security: Advanced type checking and better TypeScript support make applications more robust and secure. Errors can be identified earlier, making maintenance and teamwork easier. Advanced developer tools: New CLI features, improved debugging options, and optimized configurations improve the developer experience and speed up the development process. Growing Ecosystem: The “Angular Renaissance” also features a vibrant ecosystem and an engaged community that offers a wealth of resources, libraries, and support. Conclusion: Angular 17 sets new standards in the efficiency and versatility of web development, supported by a strong community and an expanded ecosystem. Just right for Xyna! If you would like to know more, please contact us at any time or send us an e-mail.

Tuesday, May 28, 2024

Vodafone & Xyna, new community manager, improved thread management

Xyna Bulletin #11

🇩🇪 Deutsche Version Dear customers, partners and friends, Since we were able to officially name Deutsche Telekom as a reference customer and partner for Xyna.com Professional last June, we have already reported on our collaboration from time to time in the Bulletin. But there are also other big Xyna users! Today we have a very nice statement from Vodafone. And there's news in the Xyna team: our colleague Simon Franz is taking on the role of Community Manager - and will therefore be the central point of contact for all topics relating to Xyna Open Source, GitHub and Xyna.com Professional. Simon has also brought great news from product development: a stabilization measure in the area of Java Thread Management - sounds latently exotic, but is technically absolutely sound and a necessity for the runtime stability of the Xyna Factory. Have fun reading! Best regards from Mainz, (Helau!) Alexander & Philipp Xyna GmbH Dr. Alexander Ebbes / Philipp Dominitzki PS: Do you know colleagues who are also interested in Xyna? Then please pass it on! A short answer with contact details to bulletin@xyna.com is enough. However, if you are not interested, a short email will suffice and we will remove you from the mailing list. Xyna & Vodafone For those who have not known us and our history for so long: Arcor or rather DBKom (which then became CNI, then Arcor, then Vodafone) was once our first telco customer. That was in 1997! To give you an idea: today we are already (long since) receiving applications from graduates who were born at the end of the 90s 🥶 Our partnership with Vodafone has thus existed for an almost infinitely long time, which makes us proud and grateful. At the first Xyna conference in 2006, Armin Lotz reported on the beginnings of the collaboration, from the first IP address database to the OSS suite of AIDA systems: In a fast-moving and volatile age, such relationships are particularly valuable. They make it possible to implement sustainable, value-creating solutions that are constantly being renewed and modernized, thus becoming stable building blocks of future-oriented architecture. To mark the 27th anniversary* of our business relationship, Steffen Krippner left us a beautiful statement: We have been relying on our partner GIP Exyr GmbH for the development of OSS applications for over two decades. The AIDA provisioning suite, which provides IP services for private customers, business customers and carriers, is based on the Xyna Factory automation platform. GIP Exyr GmbH provides competence and expertise at the demanding interface between network engineering, automation and software/IT. Together, we are shaping the future of network automation at Vodafone - in line with our credo: Growing Together.

Monday, May 27, 2024

Copenhagen, here we come! TM Forum 2024

Xyna Bulletin #10

🇩🇪 Deutsche Version Dear customers, partners and friends, Time flies, January is almost over again - we hope you had a relaxing time and were able to start 2024 in good health. For GIP and Xyna, we look forward to exciting events, interesting developments and seeing old and new friends again. Another old companion is the Telemanagement Forum, whose standards accompanied us back in the 00s and early 10s. In the meantime, the focus of our projects had shifted somewhat - but with ODA/ODF and especially the Open APIs, our activities have recently been increasingly influenced again. We have been an official member of the TM Forum again since January 9, 2024 - and will also be attending its main event this year, the Digital Transformation World (dtw) in Copenhagen in June. The year will be a multifaceted one, and we would be delighted if you remained loyal to our Bulletin newsletter. We promise you only relevant, interesting (and sometimes amusing) content! Best regards from Mainz, Alexander & Philipp Xyna GmbH Dr. Alexander Ebbes / Philipp Dominitzki PS: Do you know colleagues who are also interested in Xyna? Then please pass it on! A short answer with contact details to bulletin@xyna.com is enough. However, if you are not interested, a short email will suffice and we will remove you from the mailing list. Xyna ✕ TM Forum ✕ Open APIs We have been an official member of the industry association TM Forum again since January 9, 2024. Now consisting of over 800 large and small companies. Providers, infrastructure vendors, software suppliers, etc. In addition to the Shared Information Data (SID) and enhanced Telecom Operations Map (eTOM) frameworks, which have existed for many years and have been updated and adapted time and again, the triumvirate of ODF, ODA and, in particular, Open APIs have played a leading role in recent years. And ultimately also in our projects with Xyna Factory. The idea behind Open APIs is to standardize data exchange and processes between IT systems in a loosely coupled architecture using predefined object structures to such an extent that the virtual functional landscape structured in the Open Digital Architecture (keyword NFV) can be implemented both within a provider and across companies. Sounds fancy and is also a really good approach that has rightly found many friends. However, in projects - as always - the task of concrete mapping to the existing reality remains. And as a rule, this reality consists not only of perfectly idealized applications of the latest generation, but also of applications of different generations. And even if syntactic interface conformity in the direction of hypermesh / microservices can still be established relatively easily at the outer edge (via the Open APIs or other API frameworks) - the semantic mapping of different object structures to one another (the "mapping") so that processes function across applications generally remains a manual task. And this is exactly where we come in with the latest version of Xyna: with the kind support of our partner Deutsche Telekom, we have renovated and added a number of functions for managing OAS-based interfaces (OpenAPI Specification, i.e. REST-based http APIs such as the TM Forum Open APIs). This form of visual mapping already existed in earlier versions of the Xyna Factory, e.g. for SNMP mappings. The new functions for simple import and API governance not only significantly simplify the technical implementation of the interfaces. But also the use of the content transported via the API in the Xyna workflows. If you want to see this for yourself, either download the latest version of Xyna from GitHub - or simply contact us. Our free cloud platform XCCE (Xyna.com Community Edition) also already has the new functions. And finally, as a small review and outlook in equal measure: the legendary TM Forum Management World conferences in Dublin and Nice are now a long time ago. How young you can be 😱 We will continue this tradition this year! You can find us as an exhibitor at the Digital Transformation World (dtw) in Copenhagen! Safe the Date! More on this in the bulletins in the coming months. We are preparing exciting things behind the scenes - and are already looking forward to sharing them with you. If you would like to know more, please contact us at any time or send us an e-mail.

Sunday, May 26, 2024

Review of an eventful year / Outlook for 2024

Xyna Bulletin #09

🇩🇪 Deutsche Version Dear customers, partners and friends, not long now, and an eventful 2023 lies behind us. In this last issue of the Bulletin, we want to take a look back at the major milestones of the last milestones of the last 12 months --- and take a first look at 2024, which will seamlessly seamlessly. We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your interest in the Bulletin newsletter so far. We hope that we are still on the right track with this format — we have always been delighted with the positive feedback! The global political stage is in a difficult state these days. Nevertheless, we want to look to the coming year with confidence and hope — and wish you all peaceful days and a healthy start to the coming year. Best regards from Mainz, Alexander & Philipp Xyna GmbH Dr. Alexander Ebbes / Philipp Dominitzki PS: Do you know colleagues who are also interested in Xyna? Then please pass it on! A short answer with contact details to bulletin@xyna.com is enough. However, if you are not interested, a short email will suffice and we will remove you from the mailing list. Spring: Xyna.com Professional & JAX The course we set for our future direction in 2022 became visible with the division into the operating companies GIP Exyr GmbH and Xyna GmbH. GIP Exyr GmbH continues to operate as a system integrator and consulting company for sophisticated solutions in the field of network automation / OSS-IT / API-driven transformation. Xyna GmbH bundles our activities in the Xyna Factory area. On the one hand, the implementation of the commercial edition Xyna.com Professional, with which providers and other companies can secure the Xyna open source platform for use in active systems on critical infrastructures. In spring, we were also able to acquire our existing customer Deutsche Telekom as a proud reference customer for a company-wide license. And secondly, our start-up Xyna.AI (see summer) is creating a nucleus for innovative solutions in the field of artificial intelligence — with a focus on the use of AI in critical infrastructures with high requirements in terms of transparency, traceability and openness. At MLCon in Berlin (see Winter), we have just presented the latest highlight from Xyna.AI: a neuro-symbolic approach to automating processes across system landscapes in critical infrastructures with the help of API learning, Conversational GenAI and data-driven structures. We also launched our "Tour de Xyna 2023" at JAX in Mainz (https://jax.de) in the spring. The XyPilot (our own CoPilot for Xyna, AI support for workflow modeling) saw the light of day there for the first time - still as a pilot or demo! Summer: Welcome Xyna.AI & ANGA COM Embedded in Xyna GmbH, we are now bundling all activities relating to approaches and solutions with artificial intelligence in our AI startup Xyna.AI (www.xyna.ai). The XyPilot is also the first result of the development activities: a solution based on the GitHub CoPilot and similar AI coding tools to accompany application development with Xyna Factory. As a special feature and in line with our focus on openness and transparency, XyPilot offers the option of accessing large commercial GenAI models in the background or, alternatively, integrating free models that run in a private cloud and can be retrained with sensitive data. In our view, this is an absolute necessity when developing management systems in critical infrastructures. At ANGACOM in Cologne (https://angacom.de/), Alexander outlined the application areas of AI in the field of network automation in his keynote speech - and we met many old and new friends. #anganight There was also an interesting interview with entwicker.de about Xyna Factory and the advantages and consequences of graphical workflow modeling and automation, which you can read again here. Fall: OpenRheinMain The OpenRheinMain (https://openrheinmain.org) Conference for Open Source and Emerging Digital Technologies of the Department of Computer Science at Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences is now a home game for us - as it is for Deutsche Telekom, DB Systel, Boehringer Ingelheim, Lufthansa Systems, Uniberg and many others who are involved in the digitalization of networks and sophisticated (critical) infrastructures in the Rhine-Main region. In our Gold Sponsor keynote "AI Beyond the Mainstream", we were able to show why we should or must focus on solutions beyond the dominant big players, especially in Europe. We see great potential for the use of AI in the area of network automation / management and operation of critical infrastructures (keywords: intent-based networking, autonomous networks). But there are also limits and framework conditions that will be set by the EU AI Act currently being drafted. Following on from the keynote, we took a look behind the scenes of the XyPilot in the session "Pair-Programming with AI?!" and demonstrated how we implemented this intelligent GenAI extension for assisted deep modeling with Xyna Factory. Winter: Machine Learning Conference We concluded our tour at the Machine Learning Conference (https://mlconference.ai/berlin/) in Berlin at the beginning of December. Alexander's keynote address focused on the strategic value (and performance) of open components that enable companies to avoid becoming dependent on commercial black box offerings. The aim is to protect their own innovations and preserve intangible assets. There was also an accompanying hands-on session at MLCon entitled "Pair-Programming with AI?!" on the GenAI extension XyPilot for assisted deep modeling with Xyna Factory. Outlook for 2024 — TM Forum dtw & more We will continue our "Tour de Xyna" in the coming year and, in addition to technical and content-related messages, we will also keep reporting here in the Bulletin newsletter on where we are traveling with Xyna - and what new messages, approaches and solutions we have brought with us. Overall, the topic of Xyna.AI is becoming increasingly important - artificial intelligence, which is penetrating all areas of IT and technology with the current wave, will play a central role in all our projects and solutions. An important date has already been set for 2024: the TM Forum digital transformation world (dtw) in Copenhagen in June: Safe the Date! What exactly we will be presenting there and in what form - stay tuned ... and keep reading the next issues. If you would like to know more, please contact us at any time or send us an e-mail.

Saturday, May 25, 2024

Xyna.AI at the MLCon in Berlin

Xyna Bulletin #08

🇩🇪 Deutsche Version Dear customers, partners and friends, Ran an de Buletten! ... they say in berlin It's high time you got your tickets for the Machine Learning Conference (MLCon) in Berlin! Next week, we'll be giving a keynote entitled "AI Beyond the Mainstream", adding an interactive session on XyPilot and looking forward to lots of visitors, discussions and feedback at our stand. https://mlconference.ai/berlin/ MLCon marks the end of an extremely successful conference and trade fair year for us in 2023 — we were at JAX in Mainz, ANGA COM in Cologne and OpenRheinMain in Darmstadt. We will continue our tour next year — stay tuned! — it remains exciting. Viel Spaß beim Lesen! Mit freundlichen Grüßen aus Mainz, Alexander Xyna GmbH Dr. Alexander Ebbes PS: Do you know colleagues who are also interested in Xyna? Then please pass it on! A short answer with contact details to bulletin@xyna.com is enough. However, if you are not interested, a short email will suffice and we will remove you from the mailing list. Xyna.AI at the MLCon in Berlin MLCon (https://mlconference.ai/berlin/) is one of the leading international conference series for solutions, applications and innovations in the field of artificial intelligence. The last stop was in New York — next week the stopover in Berlin — with us as Gold Sponsor! When people talk about AI, they usually talk about the same things. The few top dogs that are currently active. We will talk about what potential there is beyond this mainstream. With free models, possibly with an academic background — for more biodiversity and diversity in the emerging order of the AI world. And, of course, how we are tapping into the potential of artificial intelligence for our field of application of technical process automation via complex system chains — hyperautomation — under the Xyna.AI label. If you would like to know more, please contact us at any time or send us an e-mail.

Friday, May 24, 2024

Xyna.AI at the OpenRheinMain in Darmstadt

Xyna Bulletin #07

🇩🇪 Deutsche Version Dear customers, partners and friends, only 2x more days, then it's time: this year's OpenRheinMain Conference for Open Source and Emerging Digital Technologies (ORM) at Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences opens its doors. https://openrheinmain.org/ Today we want to give a short overview of our topics — and of course repeat our invitation: we are looking forward to all short-dated visitors, the entrance is free, you only need a registration on the website. Have fun while reading! Best regards from Mainz, Philipp Xyna GmbH Philipp Dominitzki PS: Do you know colleagues who are also interested in Xyna? Then please pass it on! A short answer with contact details to bulletin@xyna.com is enough. However, if you are not interested, a short email will suffice and we will remove you from the mailing list. From Access 4.0, 5G & SDN to Cloud, Gaia-X & Crypto-Agility to Data Science, ML & AI. This year's agenda is again thematically very diverse with a focus on the areas of digitalization, cloud and communication networks of the future. Prof. Dr. Michael von Rüden from the Chair of Distributed Systems and his team from the Department of Computer Science at Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences have once again succeeded in attracting many well-known companies from the region to the conference: For Xyna, Dr. Kai Schorstein and Philipp Dominitzki will give a presentation on "AI beyond the mainstream": The public perception of artificial intelligence is dominated by a few large, closed and proprietary solutions. A multi-billion dollar race between the large technology groups creates the false impression that only the financially strongest providers can keep up. In our presentation, we want to show two aspects why, especially in Europe, we should or must also rely on solutions beyond the dominant big players. We see great potential for the use of AI in the area of network automation / management and operation of critical infrastructures. However, there are also limits and framework conditions that will be set by the currently emerging EU AI Act. The talk ends with an inspiring call to action: take the reins of AI into your own hands and democratize the world of AI with open components! In addition, our colleagues Sebastian Brummer and Moritz Schrauth will offer an interactive session with mini-workshop titled "Pair-Programming with AI?!", in which we will look behind the scenes and demonstrate how we have realized the GenAI extension XyPilot for assisted deep modeling with Xyna Factory under this paradigm. With XyPilot, we take the sensible and forward-looking technology of assisted development of algorithms and data structures through large foundation models - but complement and modify it with our own approaches, the use of open solutions, and seamless integration into the Xyna Factory development environment. In particular, we rely on local (private cloud) based models and pipelines to ensure transparency and traceability and, last but not least, applicability for sensitive, critical / secret data that should not be unthinkingly put into the big vendors' language bots. In addition, approaches are emerging to increase the reliability and quality of the code generated by the model via special security and QA layers. For Deutsche Telekom Technik, which is the second gold sponsor of ORM along with Xyna, Dr. Fabian Schneider, project manager for the development of Access 4.0, will address "Challenges in the evolving Telco landscape" in his keynote. With the Access 4.0 (A4) platform, Deutsche Telekom is breaking new ground in building and offering networks. Conventional systems are being replaced by open, disaggregated, highly automated and microservice-based technologies based on open and standardized solutions. Participation is free of charge, only registration is necessary. https://openrheinmain.org/ We would be happy to welcome one or the other newsletter recipient there! If you would like to know more, please contact us at any time or send us an e-mail.

Thursday, May 23, 2024

Xyna.AI at MLCon Berlin, Xyna.AI at OpenRheinMain in Darmstadt, Launch of private Xyna.AI GPU instance

Xyna Bulletin #06

🇩🇪 Deutsche Version Dear customers, partners and friends, our activities in the field of artificial intelligence are picking up speed! In the second half of the year we will be active at two conferences under the Xyna.AI label: in September at the OpenRheinMain (ORM) in Darmstadt and in November at the MLCon in Berlin. We have been developing our own solution portfolio for AI applications for some time now: based on the Xyna.com cloud platform, our own private Xyna.AI GPU instance is currently being created for this purpose. Have fun while reading! Best regards from Mainz, Philipp Xyna GmbH Philipp Dominitzki PS: Do you know colleagues who are also interested in Xyna? Then please pass it on! A short answer with contact details to bulletin@xyna.com is enough. However, if you are not interested, a short email will suffice and we will remove you from the mailing list. Xyna.AI at MLCon Berlin The MLCon (https://mlconference.ai/berlin/) is a leading conference for machine learning technologies and innovations in the field of artificial intelligence. It will take place from November 27th to 30th in Berlin. This year we are a gold sponsor! Alexander will give a keynote on "AI beyond the mainstream". He will address the value (and power) of open components at a strategic level to avoid becoming dependent on commercial black box offerings - which is relevant for any company that wants to protect and preserve its own innovations and values. In addition, Alexander and Moritz offer an interactive session entitled "Pair-Programming with AI?!", in which we look behind the scenes and demonstrate how we realized the GenAI extension XyPilot for assisted deep modeling with Xyna Factory under this paradigm. At MLCon we will be appearing alongside a number of prominent names from the AI industry "establishment" - it will be exciting to see how our positions are received and discussed. In any case, we are looking forward to a few talk-intensive days in Berlin! If you want to witness the whole thing - it is currently early bird time, tickets can still be purchased quite cheaply. And if you can't be in Berlin but are interested in our activities: feel free to send us an e-mail. Xyna.AI at OpenRheinMain (ORM) Darmstadt Even before the MLCon, we will be at the OpenRheinMain (ORM) Conference (https://openrheinmain.org) for Open Source and Emerging Digital Technologies on September 22, 2023. As in 2022 we are one of the main supporters (Gold sponsor) of the conference, which has been organized very successfully from the Computer Science Department of Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences for several years. Here, too, we will go into our approach of Xyna.AI in a keynote, in an accompanying session and in an interactive workshop: the open and academic algorithms and models for sophisticated solutions and pipelines, with which applications in the field of artificial Realize intelligence securely and without proprietary black boxes. The ORM agenda will be published at the end of August. Participation is free of charge, the registration required for this is already open. We would be happy to welcome one or the other newsletter recipient there! Launch of private Xyna.AI GPU instance AI needs compute power! The current generation of artificial intelligence, with its extremely large model sizes, was only made possible by advances in CPU and GPU performance. We also need sufficient resources for Xyna.AI to be able to develop our innovative algorithms. Although we concentrate on methods with high calculation efficiency - we are motivated both economically and ecologically - the necessary computing power is still considerable. At the same time, we (like other companies) do not necessarily want to let our innovations run with the big hyperscalers (information security and confidentiality). Especially with applications of AI in the area of critical infrastructure, it is of existential importance to consider such aspects from the beginning and to handle the corresponding data sensitively. That's why we started building our own compute instances for AI on the Xyna.com platform. Equipped with a lot of CPU power and GPU acceleration, they offer us the opportunity to run our Xyna.AI pipelines under our own control and sovereignty over processes and data. Of course, we cannot compete with Google or AWS in this regard. But already, these instances represent the greatest amount of computing power our company has ever owned. And we were never badly equipped, even in the days of data mining and parallel computing. At the MLCon in Berlin (see article above) we will explain that we are focusing on open algorithms and models that come from the academic field. Some of these are on a par with the commercial standard solutions from providers such as OpenAI and in some respects even superior. Xyna.AI thus fits into our product philosophy that Xyna Factory is based on open components and is even available on GitHub under an OpenSource license. The same applies here: if you would like to know more, please contact us at any time or send us an e-mail.

Tuesday, January 16, 2024

GIP becomes a member of the TM Forum / dtw 2024 Copenhagen

🇩🇪 Deutsche Version GIP Exyr GmbH joins the TM Forum and strengthens its leading position in the digital transformation of telecommunications GIP Exyr GmbH has joined the renowned industry association TM Forum. This decision underlines our commitment to quality standards and innovation leadership. The integration of standards such as the TM Forum Open APIs is becoming increasingly important in the complex distributed system landscapes in which GIP Exyr GmbH operates. They provide a framework for interoperable and efficient systems, which is crucial in the development of sophisticated OSS applications based on Xyna Factory. importance. "By becoming a member of the TM Forum, we want to strengthen our alignment with industry standards - without losing sight of the flexibility and integration strength of workflow-based automation with Xyna," explains Dr. Alexander Ebbes, Managing Director of GIP Exyr GmbH. "Working with the TM Forum allows us to share best practices, learn from the experiences of other members and actively participate in shaping future standards." GIP Exyr GmbH will also be exhibiting at Digital Transformation World (dtw) in June 2024. The trade fair offers an ideal platform to present the latest developments and innovations in the field of digital transformation and to get in touch with other industry experts. The TM Forum standards, in particular the Open Digital Architecture (ODA), the Open APIs or Shared Information and Data (SID), offer numerous advantages for companies involved in the telecommunications and digital industry. The standards promote interoperability between different systems and platforms and provide a framework that accelerates the development and implementation of new technologies and services. Participation in Digital Transformation World underlines GIP Exyr GmbH's commitment to continuous development and shows that the company is on its way to playing a key role in the digital transformation of telecommunications. TM Forum is an association of over 800 member companies generating US$2 trillion in revenue and serving five billion customers across 111 countries. A global alliance of telco and tech companies, TM Forum is leading the industry in defining the building blocks for new operating models, impactful new partnerships, and advanced software platforms. TM Forum helps its members unlock the value of data to create nearly endless opportunities for players across the communications ecosystem. At DTW — Ignite, Accelerate and Collaboration events, TM Forum provides a platform for industry change-makers to share groundbreaking innovation, market developments, product launches and business transformation journeys. TM Forum is the only industry body to count the world's top 10 CSPs and all the key hyperscalers as active, strategic members. TM Forum and its members are on a mission to reinvent the telco industry as a vibrant part of the digital landscape — and a driving force in shaping its future. Learn more at www.tmforum.org

Tuesday, December 12, 2023

Review of the year 2023 — Xyna on Tour

Xyna on Tour 2023: A successful year in review

🇩🇪 Deutsche Version 2023 was a year full of milestones and successes for Xyna.com and Xyna.AI (GIP's AI startup, https://www.xyna.ai). The "Xyna on Tour" roadshow through various industry events, including JAX in Mainz (https://jax.de), ANGACOM in Cologne (https://angacom.de/startseite), OpenRheinMain in Darmstadt (https://openrheinmain.org) and, most recently, MLCon in Berlin (https://mlconference.ai/berlin/), enabled us to present our pioneering services in the field of process digitization, network automation and hyperautomation with GenAI to a broad audience. Highlights of "Xyna on Tour" 2023: JAX, Mainz: The tour kick-off at JAX in Mainz in March was a great success. Visitors had the opportunity to experience Xyna's latest innovations live and exchange ideas with industry experts. The positive response confirmed the relevance of Xyna solutions for the Java, architecture and software innovation community. ANGACOM, Köln: Participation in ANGACOM in June was a further step towards a stronger presence in the telecommunications industry. Xyna presented solutions specifically tailored to the needs of the broadband industry. The roadshow attracted the attention of industry experts and potential customers alike. OpenRheinMain, Darmstadt: In September, the "Xyna on Tour" took place at the OpenRheinMain in Darmstadt. Visitors had the opportunity to test the XyPilot and other tools live and learn more about the integration of open source into their services. The event strengthened Xyna's position as a pioneer in the field of collaboration in the IT industry. MLCon, Berlin: The year ended with an impressive appearance at MLCon in Berlin in November. Xyna presented insights into the future of hyperautomation and the crucial role of GenAI in combination with our unique neuro-symbolic approach in the development of processes and networks. The conference provided a platform for intensive discussions and networking opportunities. The "Xyna on Tour" 2023 was not only an opportunity to present the latest developments, but also a chance to gather direct feedback from the community and potential customers. The positive feedback and growing awareness of Xyna services underline the relevance and success of the roadshow. The Xyna team would like to thank all visitors, partners and interested parties for their support over the past year and looks forward to continuing the tour in the coming year. About Xyna.AI and Xyna.com: Xyna.AI and Xyna.com are leading providers in the field of digitalization of process chains, network automation and hyperautomation with a focus on telecommunications, technical and network-related processes. Their innovative solutions use advanced and open AI approaches to help companies optimize their processes and strengthen their competitiveness in the digital era.

Wednesday, July 13, 2022

Xyna Ad Astra

Under this motto, GIP Exyr GmbH, a 100% subsidiary of GIP AG, hosted XynaCom on 14.06.2022 at the Kulturzentrum, Mainz. In the morning, exciting workshops were held, which provided an insight into selected projects. New employees were also welcomed and introduced. One of the highlights of the event was the presentation by Dr. Alexander Ebbes, who announced the initial open source publishing, the first release of Xyna Factory on GitHub under Apache license. “For Xyna to be successful, out there in the wild, we have to reinvent it, reposition it in a new and contemporary way." This quote from Dr. Alexander Ebbes shows that the tool is no longer limited in its potential and can now develop further. This also changes the mindset of the GIP, which thus also looks to a new future. Afterwards, Dr. Bernd Reifenhäuser, as initiator, announced the foundation of the Future Networking Research Alliance. The goal of the alliance is to lay the foundations for future networks and software-defined networks through cooperative research. The focus will be on software-defined, resilient and secure networks as well as 6G and the Internet of Everything (IoE). The entire article by Dr. Bernd Reifenhäuser on the founding of the alliance can be found on LinkedIn. In addition to GIP AG, the alliance is currently formed by Prof. Dr.-Ing. Ulrich Trick and Prof. Dr. Armin Lehmann from the Telecommunications Networks Research Group at the University Of Applied Science Frankfurt, as well as Prof. Dr. Martin Stiemerling and Prof. Dr. Michael von Rüden from the Department of Computer Science at Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences. It is completed by Dr. Alexander Ebbes, who represents GIP Exyr GmbH. By forming the alliance, GIP has significantly strengthened its research in the areas of 5G, 6G and Internet of Everything (IoE). By jointly applying and participating in research funding activities, the alliance will be able to fund challenging and high-risk research in the future. The last presentation of XynaCom by Prof. Dr.-Ing. Ulrich Trick covered the technology of 5th generation mobile networks. At the end of the event, a copy of the book "5G: An Introduction to 5th Generation Mobile Networks" by Prof. Dr. Trick was raffled off to all participating guests. In addition to all the interesting presentations, the XynaCom was a fitting event to also celebrate the coming together of the employee:s in a larger setting since the beginning of the Corona Pandemic. We look back on this beautiful and eventful day with pleasure.

Monday, June 20, 2022

Founding of the research alliance Future Networks

On the initiative of Dr. Bernd Reifenhäuser, GIP AG, the Future Networks research alliance was founded at XynaCom on June 14, 2022, together with Prof. Ulrich Trick and Prof. Armin Lehmann, Telecommunications Networks Research Group of the University of Applied Science Frankfurt am Main, and Dr. Alexander Ebbes, GIP Exyr GmbH.  Among the founding members, who unfortunately could not attend XynaCom on June 14, are Prof. Martin Stiemerling, Prof. Stefan Valentin and Prof. Michael von Rüden of the Department of Computer Science at the University of Applied Sciences Darmstadt. The objective of the alliance is to lay the foundations for future networks and software-defined networks through cooperative research. The focus will be on software-defined, resilient and secure networks as well as 6G and the Internet of Everything (IoE). Current global political developments in particular show that resilience and cyber security are becoming central for networks, as lifelines for our future. But also to be able to counter climate change with technical measures, the stronger networking of people, data, things and processes through the IoE will be inevitable. The next generation of mobile communications, 6G, will offer new dimensions for wireless networking, e.g., with special purpose networks, and thus open up new potential for IoE innovations. Alongside the future Internet of Everything, energy supply will form the backbone of our society. IoE and energy supply are closely linked, so this aspect will also be the subject of the research alliance. The alliance is to be expanded to include medium-sized technology suppliers and providers of all sizes. A central task of the alliance is the successful acquisition of national and European research funds in order to be able to finance these breakthrough innovations. Dr. Ebbes, left, Prof. Trick, center, Prof. Lehmann, right www.gip.com www.e-technik.org www.fbi.h-da.de