Keynote by Marios Nicolaou, 5G Specialist of Impleo UK

Marios began by explaining that 5G is more than merely another G added to existing technologies.  As we moved from 2G to 3G to 4G is was purely to provide more and better capabilities to the smartphone however, it is now time to enable connectivity through devices bigger and smarter machines than handsets.  For example, self-driving cars, robots, drones and VR systems.

The technology is already at release 15 where 5G is deployed in some countries that mainly focuses on faster user data to the consumer.  However, next year will see more capabilities of 5G with release 16.  We will see more massive machine communications, high reliability and low latency communications.

5G will enable us to connect many devices, up to 1 million devices per square kilometre.  Manufacturing, transportation, healthcare and media will benefit greatly from the technologies.  One technology will be able to connect numerous industries to each other creating a wider and more synchronized system.

There are two technical capabilities of 5G. Firstly, network slicing, which is the ability to dynamically provision and orchestrate the needs and verticals of different industries. Secondly, 5G will open up other industries such as Factory as a Service (FaaS) and Industry as a Service (IaaS).

Industry 4.0, the new industrial revolution, is a system that uses many technological new enablers.  For example, extreme sensorisation to calculate temperature, viscosity and vibration in manufacturing.  This revolution is still in the beginning phase and more real use studies are required but there is no going back.  The 5G journey has started.

Investment in 5G technology is expensive but a necessary investment.  This is due to the efficiency, speed, high reliability, and low latency.  For example, one company that has started using these systems where they have moved from scheduled maintenance to predictive maintenance has seen an 80% reduction in cost and have been able to remove humans from hazardous environments that could save 30% of labour costs.

Why are people taking financial risk?  The answer is due to efficiency, speed, cost, reliability, improving quality and in some cases creates a competitive advantage.  With all the advantages of 5G, industries are slow to adopt due to certain sectors that are generally conservative and the technology is expensive.  Some companies need more use cases and proof that it is a viable investment and it is beneficial.

5G technology provides opportunities for creating new business models.  Some examples are:

• Machines as a Service;
• Robot as a Service;
• Factory as a Service;
• Availability as a Service;
• Producer cuts the supply chain and goes straight to the consumer, and
• Selling digital twin capability and roadmaps.

These explorations into the new business models are the start of the new industrial revolution.

The capabilities that will be an advantage to everyone are the low latency and the high throughput.  The high throughput uses sensors that are made in China and creates loads of data.  The low latency is vital for other technologies to work, such as robotics.  Ultimately the new era relies on investment, testing and more real use cases.

This article is written by Noleen George, editor of Techsauce Global Summit 2019.