The promise of 5G is much more than bigger and faster wireless. As businesses of all types and sizes tackle digital transformation, 5G— combined with innovative edge technologies— can deliver industry-changing solutions that improve operations and accelerate transformation. There are numerous technology options and vendors that each deliver a piece of the solution, but what has been missing is a way to bring together that ideal combination of emerging technologies from start-ups, standardized and reliable network and computing platforms from established vendors, and the orchestration required to take those pieces to the field and deliver business value.
We sat down with Hagai Pen, Customer Business Executive from Amdocs, to discuss the 5G Open Innovation Lab (OIL), understand where it came from and why this collaboration is different from efforts to accelerate the adoption of promising new technologies from startups and entrepreneurs.
5G OIL is more than an accelerator for startups
Amdocs is proud to be a founding partner of the 5G Open Innovation Lab (OIL). 5G OIL was founded by technology providers so that entrepreneurs, enterprise platform and industry leaders, technical experts, investors and others are able to collaborate, develop and test software solutions that meet specific needs within specific industries. The goal is to employ innovative technologies from startups and integrate those technologies into secure, reliable solutions for industry-unique use cases. To reduce risk and ensure reliability, 5G OIL use cases are orchestrated, deployed and proven in real-world environments.
The challenge for businesses in many industries as they strategize about digital transformation is that, while each is adept within that industry, they aren’t software specialists and they aren’t system integrators. Evaluating each piece of new technology or industry-specific application can help businesses understand available features and functions. What those evaluations don’t do is help businesses understand how new solutions fit with existing environments or how the business will manage the result. Most businesses have neither the time nor the skills to fully evaluate new technologies and develop sound integration strategies.
The challenge for startups trying to market directly to industry is that businesses may not understand where or how a new solution will fit. Neither the startup nor the business is in a position to understand the ramifications of introducing new technology into existing operations. That risk alone is enough for businesses to dismiss innovative solutions from startup vendors.
But what if there was a way to demonstrate how a new application fits into on-going operations? Not just in a lab with computers and connectors, but at an industry-specific field location where use cases are evaluated against, and solutions are integrated with, existing operations. These real-world field labs are what sets the 5G OIL apart from existing accelerators and vendor labs.
We deliver what’s new where it’s needed most
Enterprises are demanding their applications and services run securely and reliably on any cloud, anywhere. In addition to interoperability between private, hybrid, public and telco clouds, networks and edge applications; enterprises require seamless orchestration and automation to take full advantage of these complex technologies. Meeting business expectations requires collaboration across a broad set of technology partners and having those partners accessible in both a laboratory and operational environment improves outcomes and reduces risk.
Most startups do not have access to 5G and edge computing resources, much less real-world testbeds. In addition to a robust ecosystem lab for technology partners, 5G OIL field labs provide access to connectivity and compute technology that enables collaboration in real-world physical locations and solves industry-specific problems. Currently, the 5G OIL has unique field labs for technology and agriculture with work on a port management and operations field lab in progress.
The foundation of 5G OIL labs is a dynamic testing platform with dedicated access to a 5G-capable, CBRS LTE private network. Each site connects to an edge computing environment allowing developers to take advantage of cloud computing capabilities essential for latency-sensitive and compute-intensive edge applications.
Using 5G to deliver food resiliency
At the first field testbed in Snohomish County in Washington state, Amdocs deployed an Agritech application at the edge to process orchard data including watering, temperature and fertilization to deliver real-time information to the farmer. As a result, use of water for irrigation was down 50% while yield increased by 20%.
Understanding innovation at the Port of Tacoma
Amdocs and the 5G OIL have been asked to support the modernization of the Port of Tacoma. “Initial discovery efforts have identified more than 30 use cases where modernization is needed to support health and safety, IT modernization, sustainability and improved efficiency,” said Hagai. “By mapping the use cases to innovative solutions and the startups that deliver them, Amdocs is now creating a bill of materials and IT stack to support implementation using a new 5G OIL field lab.”
Further afield
The 5G OIL is in the process of partnering with industry leaders to create a field lab for industrial applications, a lab for utilities, one for open radio access networks (O-RAN) and expanding the agriculture lab.
Field labs represent a dynamic development platform that facilitates collaborative experimentation and delivers commercially viable use cases. These are true collaborative public-private environments for startups, with best-of-breed solutions delivering all the capabilities of an operational enterprise platform.
Utilizing 5G and edge applications opens a whole new world of innovation for businesses in every industry. With proven processes and tools for designing, deploying, integrating and managing 5G networks and applications, Amdocs and the 5G OIL are delivering complex 5G and edge solutions that implement cutting-edge technology innovation while reducing risk and delivering solid business value.
For more information, read this blog and visit Amdocs 5G Hyperautomation.
