IBM and Verizon are partnering for 5G and edge computing solutions as part of efforts to develop innovation for ‘industry 4.0’.

The computing giant has partnered with the US telecoms firm to help industrial enterprises to use edge computing to accelerate access to near real-time, improve productivity and reduce costs.

The collaboration will include the use of various technologies such as Verizon’s ThingSpace IoT platform and IBM’s Maximo Monitor and IBM Watson and along with the high speed and low latency of Verizon’s 5G and Multi-access Edge Compute (MEC) capabilities, IoT devices and sensors at the edge, and IBM’s expertise in AI, hybrid multicloud, edge computing, asset management and connected operations.

The combined solutions could help clients detect, locate, diagnose and respond to system anomalies, monitor asset health and help predict failures in near real-time.

The first solutions planned from the collaboration are mobile asset tracking and management solutions to help enterprises improve operations, enhance production quality, and help clients enhance worker safety.

IBM and Verizon are also working on potential combined solutions for 5G and MEC-enabled use cases such as near real-time cognitive automation for the industrial environment.

Edge computing’s decentralised architecture brings technology resources closer to where data is generated - i.e., where devices are located in an industrial site – this can help decrease lags in response time and increase processing speeds and reliability.

5G’s low latency, high download speeds and capacity can increase the number of devices that can be supported within the same geographic area, and the ability for organisations to interact with those devices in near real-time, with computing power in the proximity of the device.

This could mean that innovative new applications such as remote control robotics, near real-time cognitive video analysis and plant automation may now be possible.

Bob Lord, senior vice president, cognitive applications, blockchain and ecosystems, at IBM said: “The industrial sector is undergoing unprecedented transformation as companies begin to return to full-scale operations, aided by new technology to help reduce costs and increase productivity.

“Through this collaboration, we plan to build upon our longstanding relationship with Verizon to help industrial enterprises capitalise on joint solutions that are designed to be multicloud ready, secured and scalable, from the data center all the way out to the enterprise edge.”

Verizon and IBM also plan to collaborate on potential joint solutions to address worker safety, predictive maintenance, product quality and production automation.

Tami Erwin, chief executive of Verizon Business said: “This collaboration is all about enabling the future of industry in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.”

He added: “Combining the high speed and low latency of Verizon’s 5G UWB Network and MEC capabilities with IBM’s expertise in enterprise-grade AI and production automation can provide industrial innovation on a massive scale and can help companies increase automation, minimise waste, lower costs, and offer their own clients a better response time and customer experience.”

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