Reflections from DTW Ignite 2025: Composability, AI, and Catalyst Projects
This year’s DTW25 – Ignite event showcased some of the many innovative Catalyst projects being headed up by TM Forum and its partners. Fresh from presenting his own work on the showfloor, Cerillion Product Manager Leonardo Hodgson reflects on this year’s event, and its stand-out projects.
Last week, myself and the Cerillion team were in Copenhagen for TM Forum’s DTW25 - Ignite, one of the biggest events in the telco and tech calendar. It’s where the BSS/OSS industry’s brightest minds come together to collaborate, learn and showcase innovation.
Among the three central themes at this year’s event, Composable IT, Autonomous Networks, and of course, AI, it was composability that took centre stage. As a foundational element of the Open Digital Architecture (ODA), composability continues to gain momentum and is rapidly becoming the standard for the future of BSS/OSS solutions.
At the opening keynote, we were proud to see Cerillion’s contribution to the ODA Component Conformance programme highlighted. We’ve been working closely with TM Forum on this initiative, taking part in the early access programme to define and test the tools that will validate and certify ODA components – a crucial step in helping CSPs and vendors modernise with confidence and consistency.
A major highlight of DTW is always the Catalyst projects, where 50+ collaborative proof-of-concept initiatives, led by CSP champions, with a mix of vendor participants, are on display for guests to explore.
These projects demonstrate cutting-edge innovation in action and give a clear view of where the industry is heading. A number of impressive ODA-related Catalysts were showcased this year, many powered by AI to accelerate adoption and reduce complexity.
Here are a few that stood out to me:
AI-powered Legacy Modernisation to ODA
This Catalyst showcased how generative AI can transform legacy applications into cloud-native microservices aligned with the ODA framework. By automatically extracting deep business logic from legacy systems and re-architecting them into standards-based, deployable services, it significantly reduces manual effort and rework.
Their demo was particularly impressive, demonstrating how this approach could solve one of the hardest challenges faced by telco providers with decades of legacy systems.
Digital Twin Acceleration: Automate ODA Framework Adoption
This Catalyst used enterprise architecture tools, APIs and AI to automate the import of ODA blocks and components into management platforms, eliminating the need for engineers to build custom integrations. Considering the frequent updates and complexity of reference frameworks, this tool promises to greatly simplify and accelerate ODA adoption for many telco providers.
AI-powered ODA in a Box for B2B2X
This initiative presented multiple use cases demonstrating how pre-packaged ODA components can be integrated to enable AI-powered B2B2X capabilities. By combining interoperable modules from different vendors, operators can deploy complex services quickly and efficiently. It was fascinating to see a complete end-to-end implementation running real-life use cases, highlighting the tangible benefits of the ODA model in action.
Cerillion was proud to participate in the UNITe Catalyst: Unified Network Integration for Terrestrial and Non-terrestrial Communications (Phase II). This project focused on mobile-satellite IoT and featured a live proof-of-concept using our composable BSS/OSS for seamless provisioning and orchestration of services for global supply chain use cases.
In regions where cellular infrastructure is lacking, satellite connectivity ensures uninterrupted data transmission, improving trust and customer satisfaction. Our catalyst solution used AI-driven analytics to predict disruptions and optimise logistics for high-value shipments in real time, enhancing visibility and reducing the risk of spoilage or theft.
Working alongside partners such as CGI, Airbus, Mavenir, TCS, Terrestar and CSPs including Telus, Elisa, and Deutsche Telekom, we demonstrated how hybrid connectivity can be delivered through a unified and standards-based approach. We're thrilled that the project was recognised as a Moonshot Catalyst Award finalist, a testament to the great collaboration and innovation from all involved.
DTW25 - Ignite was a fantastic opportunity to see real-world solutions tackling real-world problems. From visionary keynotes to hands-on demonstrations, it was inspiring to see just how far the industry has come and where it’s heading next.