Digital Catapult, a deep tech innovation organisation, has today announced its accreditation as the only European Open Testing and Integration Centre (OTIC) in the UK awarded by the O-RAN ALLIANCE¹. The accreditation recognises Digital Catapult’s world-class capabilities in testing, validating, and integrating open and interoperable radio access network (Open RAN) technologies, and its aim to advance the development and deployment of open and future networks.  

Open Testing and Integration Centres (OTICs) provide a collaborative, open environment to support the growth of the Open RAN ecosystem by enabling rigorous testing, validation, and integration of multi-vendor solutions, ensuring interoperability, and fostering industry collaboration in line with O-RAN ALLIANCE specifications. Digital Catapult’s accreditation makes it the fifth centre in the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region to be awarded OTIC accreditation, joining existing centres in Germany, France, Spain, and Italy.  

With its new status, Digital Catapult is accredited to issue O-RAN certificates for conformance testing and badges for interoperability and end-to-end testing for Open RAN products and solutions, joining a global network of twenty other qualified OTICs. This accreditation empowers Digital Catapult to support a broad range of Open RAN vendors by helping validate their solutions ahead of deployment, enabling many to scale successfully and to practically apply O-RAN innovation across different industries.  

Certification and badging not only builds trust between vendors and Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) but also reduces the efforts on the MNO side to perform additional and thorough on-site testing. Equipped with a state-of-the-art Open RAN testbed, advanced Test & Measurement (T&M) capabilities, and a team of technical experts, Digital Catapult’s OTIC accreditation will enable it to further drive the development and adoption of data-driven, open future networks across the UK. 

Digital Catapult will serve as both a centre of technological and innovation consultancy and a convener of UK capabilities, actively sharing expertise through participation in O-RAN ALLIANCE events, hosting demonstrations, and trialling new solutions, to accelerate the adoption of O-RAN specifications while championing openness, collaboration, and innovation. This will build on Digital Catapult’s success to date through its innovation and accelerator programmes such as SONIC (SmartRAN Open Network Interoperability Centre) Labs, delivered in partnership with Ofcom and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), with 23 global vendors and 71 Open RAN product tests carried out through its facilities so far. SONIC Labs was recently highlighted in the UK Government’s Industrial Strategy for advancing R&D in Advanced Connectivity Technologies, as part of its Open Networks Programme. 

Joe Butler, CTO at Digital Catapult, said: “Achieving OTIC status marks a significant step forward in our commitment to advance the development and deployment of open future networks in the UK. By enabling real-world validation through our world-class facilities and expertise, we are shaping the future of advanced connectivity and empowering vendors to thrive in a rapidly evolving market.” 

“We are pleased to welcome Digital Catapult to the global network of Open Testing and Integration Centres (OTICs),” said Maja Graetz, COO of the O-RAN ALLIANCE. “OTICs play an important role in advancing the market for open and intelligent network solutions. Together, we are driving the O-RAN Certification and Badging Program – building trust in O-RAN-based products and accelerating their adoption in large-scale deployments.”

Any company interested in finding out about Digital Catapult’s open network facilities can find out more here.