Facebook-led open hardware group the Telecom Infra Project (TIP) appointed former GSMA executive Attilio Zani (pictured) as its new executive director.

Zani will spearhead the organisation’s efforts to drive growth by working closely with TIP’s board, technical committee, project group heads and membership. He succeeds TIP’s previous executive director, Leland Lai.

In a statement Zani said: “As a long time believer in the positive impact of global connectivity, I am honoured to be working with such a dedicated and effective ecosystem of companies.”

Founded at Mobile World Congress in 2016, TIP’s aim is to develop new approaches to infrastructure based on the combined views of operators, equipment providers, system integrators and other technology companies.

Today it includes more than 500 member companies and 13 project groups focused on innovation in network access; backhaul; and core and management. Tier one operator members include Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Telefonica and Vodafone.

Study areas within those groups include edge computing, open RAN, mmWave networks, end-to-end network slicing, and artificial intelligence and machine learning.

TIP will hold a summit next month in London, during which it will provide updates on its achievements to date and set milestones for 2019. Mobile World Live will bring you all the news.