By Catherine Sbeglia
Verizon is helping IBM expand the capabilities at its Industry Solution Lab in Coppell, Texas to include a testbed environment for developing and testing 5G-enabled use cases for Industry 4.0 applications.
Verizon and IBM first collaborated on 5G and edge computing, and at Mobile World Congress 2021, jointly deployed a modern open hybrid cloud strategy across Verizon’s 5G network core and service orchestration platform.
When the pair initially partnered on 5G and MEC in 2020, Tami Erwin, Verizon Business CEO, explained how Verizon’s MEC and 5G Ultra Wideband — the carrier’s 5G mmWave network — combined with IBM’s enterprise-grade AI and production automation capabilities will lead to “industrial innovation on a massive scale” and “increase automation, minimize waste, lower costs” for enterprise customers.
This latest development in the IBM and Verizon partnership will allow enterprise customers to use the lab, which provides a pre-commercial, Standalone 5G and MEC environment, to develop and test how this combination that Erwin described can enable use cases like robotics, guided vehicles, manufacturing process automation, visual quality inspection and data analytics.
“This lab demonstrates the power of optimizing solutions for a new era of hybrid cloud that leverages the growing relationship between ‘connectivity + compute’ to create new value. The lab will provide hands-on experience for enterprises as they seek ways to leverage the new 5G capabilities – reduced latency, increased bandwidth, network slicing and edge — by trialing new use cases and highly automated deployment and management approaches,” wrote global GM & managing director, IBM Communications Sector Steve Canepa in a blog post.
Initial priority focus areas for the testbed, according to Canepa, include asset monitoring and optimization, field worker productivity and safety and visual inspection.
“Through IBM’s ongoing commitment to these centers and labs, one thing is clear: our goal is to accelerate tangible business impact for our customers through reduced time to value,” stated Canepa. “And this is more vital than ever, as telcos — and the customers they serve — are increasingly seeking new and proven ways to explore and harness the value of 5G and the power of ‘connectivity + compute.’
