The Future of Transportation: A System of Systems Perspective on the Future of the Car

the future of transportation. What do we mean by that? It is not to say that the car is the future of transportation, rather the future of the car will depend on how the broader transportation system digitally evolves. The digital transformation of transportation infrastructure will have profound influence on how and how quickly the digitalization of the car will play out as will the stitching between the intelligent car and the intelligent infrastructure – 5G connectivity.

Industry Insight: Will Blacklisting SMIC Slow China’s Advance toward Silicon Self-Reliance and 5G Leadership?

On December 18th, 2020, SMIC (Semiconductor Manufacturing International Company), China’s largest foundry, was added to the Bureau of Industry and Security’s (BIS) Entity List. This was not a surprising move by the US Department of Commerce given the increasing stringency and aggressiveness of the Trump Administration’s tech trade policy toward China over the last couple of years, especially with the advent of the Coronavirus Pandemic. Besides, Secretary Wilbur Ross indicated in September that SMIC would likely join Huawei on the BIS’s Entity List. What are the implications on the semiconductor industry and the future of 5G?

Industry Insight: Democratizing the Digital Twin – The Moab Foundation

The Digital Twin is considered by some the next big thing since network slicing. Rob Tiffany, renowned IoT pioneer established the non-profit Moab Foundation to bring the bigness of digital twins to do good in the world. The charter of the foundation aims to bring the benefits and enablement of IoT to bear in furthering the UN’s 17 SDG (Sustainable Development Goals).

Tech Insight: Converged IT/CT Service Placement

With the advent of Release 16 of 3GPP’s 5G technical specification and the introduction of SA (Standalone) 5G NR, operators can now explore the benefits of E2E network slicing. It will be critical in enabling dynamic placement of network functions across mobile network edge. But 5G is also about MEC which will converge the pipe with compute.

The 5G Autonomous Edge: The Next Frontier of Digital Business Innovation

5G, AI, and the cloud are intersecting to unlock real-time autonomous capabilities at the edge. This evolution represents an inflection point for edge computing and a new frontier for business innovation and reinvention. Discover the potential of ubiquitous intelligence, edge cloud computing, and autonomous infrastructure to transform our world from the age of digital business to autonomous enterprise.

Industry Insight: The Unintended Consequence of the US War on Huawei

The US Department of Commerce recently amended its foreign-produced direct product rule (FPDP) and Entity List to include HiSilicon, Huawei’s semiconductor design subsidiary. This action has been widely deemed an escalation of the US government’s “war on Huawei. In the broader context of the US sanction on Chinese tech firms, the addendum applies a consistency of “national security and foreign policy purpose” to HiSilicon.

Industry Insight: Microsoft’s Flight to the Hyper-converged Edge Cloud

In the last three months, Microsoft has been on a tear building out its portfolio of 5G core and virtualized network service management technologies having acquired Affirmed Networks, and most recently, Metaswitch. The acquisition of these telecom tech companies by the leading enterprise IT technology company and cloud service provider may seem curious at first, but these transactions highlight the acceleration of a transformative trend that we at neXt Curve dubbed Under-the-Bottom (UTB) in our 2019 technology horizon study for Ofcom, the United Kingdom’s communications and media sector regulator.

COVID-19 Pandemic: the Crucible of 5G Innovation and Leadership

Necessity is the mother of invention. There has been no moment of need in modern times as urgent as what we face today as humanity grapples with the COVID-19 pandemic. In three months, the virus has spread to over 180 countries around the globe, infecting millions, and has arrested the largest and smallest of economies. At the same time, it has created an unprecedented need for connectivity and communications. Now, more than ever, unconventional thinking and leadership as well as innovative applications of technologies such as 5G are dire necessities for addressing the many COVID-19-related challenges that are disrupting millions of lives and jeopardizing trillions in economic value.

Smart Living: Moving Beyond the Smart Home

For years the Smart Home has promised to enrich the lives of consumers and has inspired waves of manufacturer innovation such as smart speakers, intelligent thermostats and much more. While these innovations have offered incremental improvement in our home lives, the consumer reality has been a deluge of devices and services, greater complexity, and less security. In truth, the Smart Home remains elusive, the problems it intends to solve unclear. Only when manufacturers reach beyond devices and services with purpose-driven “Smart Living” solutions at home will this market cross the chasm to rapid market growth.

5G: The Carrier-Grade Digital Infrastructure for the Software-Defined Factory of the Future

With the advent of 5G there has been growing interest in what the next-generation mobile network technology means for industry. Operators and industrial OT (Operational Technology) players have been investigating the use cases and potential value that the 5G promises and technology can bring to manufacturing, supply chain and the factory of the future. It is commonly known and expected that 5G will bring about massive Machine Type Communications (mMTC), Ultra-Reliable Low-Latency Communications (URLLC) and enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB), but what do these use cases mean for manufacturers? Are these really the 5G promises that matter for the smart factory and the ongoing evolution of Industry 4.0?