Vodafone’s R&D centre in Malaga is a year old and the company has already announced the official opening of what will be its permanent headquarters According to Invest in Spain in February 2022, the centre was installed provisionally in the Impact Hub coworking space alongside the María Zambrano railway station.

Since that time, Vodafone Innovation Hub has been growing to reach its current figure of 300 highly qualified professionals. Their work involves developing innovative technological solutions around the Internet of Things (IoT), Open RAN, SD-WAN, private networks, edge computing, MPN, connected vehicles, end-to-end vertical solutions, artificial intelligence (AI), cloud, drones, mixed reality, blockchain, robotics, big data and metaverse, among others.

A benchmark in innovation
The company's commitment is based on its view of the Spanish market as a hub for international talent and on its capacity as a benchmark in innovation for the creation of global digital solutions. Over the next five years, it plans to double its workforce to reach the 600 employees envisaged since its creation. By then, the company's total investment in this centre will have reached the budgeted 225 million euros.

The new innovation hub will open in spring. Located in the city centre, it falls within the technology company's agreement with the University of Malaga (UMA) to collaborate on IoT, 5G, MPN and Open RAN projects, and it will operate under the name Vodafone-UMA campus. The agreement was signed at the beginning of the year and foresees the creation of synergies and the driving of R&D projects based on real business needs.

Attracting talent
Among the workers already on board and those who will start contributing their talent are product and solution architects, scrum masters, software engineers, developers (front-end and back-end), data engineers, UX experts, digital sales process experts, data analysts, cloud developers, experts in innovation and financing projects, blockchain and cybersecurity experts and human resources and IT staff.

According to the head of the Vodafone Innovation Hub, Jesús Amores, the upcoming opening “will reinforce the company's commitment to the Spanish market and provide a boost to the training of new digital talent, which is key to the development of our research and innovation ecosystem in such a favourable environment as the city of Malaga".

University vice-chancellor José Ángel Narváez appreciates the collaboration with the operator as "a very important initiative for the training of our students, graduates and research groups, who will have the opportunity to participate in constructing the technologies of the future in Malaga".

^{Photo: Vodafone}