New Technology Facility Opens in Bridgewater

Joined by New Jersey Lieutenant Governor Kim Guadagno, leading technology sector companies, New Jersey academic institutions and local government officials, Juniper Networks, the industry leader in network  innovation, announced the public launch of a ground-breaking technology facility Tuesday: OpenLab, The Junos Center for Innovation.

OpenLab’s mission, according to a release from the company, is to drive and facilitate collaboration and education, accelerate new network-integrated applications for a connected society and further strengthen Juniper’s leadership in the software-defined networking (SDN) and network programmability movements.

Juniper Networks, the release said, selected Bridgewater as the site for OpenLab due to the state’s rich innovation history and its importance in serving the large regional base of service providers like AT&T, Verizon, Comcast and several global enterprises like NYSE Euronext, Bloomberg and others. The location also takes advantage of a large talent pool of potential hires, which Juniper has been tapping to help support the long-standing relationships the company has developed in the region since opening its first office in Bridgewater in 2002.

On hand to welcome OpenLab to the New Jersey technology community were New Jersey Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno; Gerri Elliott, Juniper’s executive vice president and chief sales officer; Maxine Ballen, founder, president and CEO of the New Jersey Technology Council; and representatives from OpenLab’s growing list of relationships with businesses and academia.

“Creating an environment that welcomes businesses and ignites the culture of innovation in New Jersey has been a top priority of this administration. We were thrilled that an industry leader like Juniper Networks is developing the next generation of networking technology right here in the Garden State,” Guadagno said in a release about the opening.

OpenLab Facts

• With nearly 7,000 square feet of collaboration, lab, rack and conference space, OpenLab provides access to application development tools, networking and product expertise, Juniper’s award-winning software platforms and educational opportunities.
• OpenLab connects university students, researchers, software developers, investors, customers, partners and their customers with the right resources to unleash the potential of the new network.
• As the level of activity within OpenLab increases, Juniper plans to grow headcount commensurately. Juniper's thousands of global customers, leading academic institutions and aspiring entrepreneurs can use OpenLab to develop and test their own applications on real-world production networks.

“We are pleased to have a leading technology company like Juniper Networks base their first-ever, one-of-a-kind lab here in New Jersey," Ballen said in the release. "OpenLab represents the innovative heritage of both the region as well as the company that built the facility.”