Ericsson and Digital Catapult develop new Industrial 5G Accelerator

Aimed at demonstrating 5G’s key role in industrial settings, the Industrial 5G Accelerator will produce a series of real-life test cases and tangible demonstrations proving its potential, making the case for rapid adoption, and helping companies understand how 5G can transform products and services. In addition to increasing efficiency across the country, 5G innovation and technology will be vital to the optimization of industrial processes in the UK.

Marielle Lindgren, Head of UK & Ireland, Ericsson, says: “Technologies like IoT, robotics, and AI are transforming UK businesses, but the lack of consistent, high-quality connectivity is preventing them from realizing Industry 4.0’s full potential. With its superfast data rates, ultra-low latency, and vastly increased network capacity, 5G provides precisely the solution to this challenge. As a world-leader in communications technology, we at Ericsson are collaborating with UK mobile network operators, businesses, and agencies such as Digital Catapult to ensure that Industry 4.0 is capable of delivering on its promise.”

Jeremy Silver, CEO, Digital Catapult, said “The potential for 5G to boost UK productivity and increase efficiency is hugely exciting. 5G is a significant investment for any company so to be able to showcase its value in a real-life environment, through tangible and relevant examples, is absolutely vital to developing a concrete business case. We're excited to work with Ericsson, pairing our deep technical knowledge and agile approach to innovation with their world renowned technical and business excellence, helping to provide the ammunition business leaders need to accelerate adoption of 5G across the country.”

Digital Catapult and Ericsson’s Industrial 5G Accelerator is a bespoke, challenge-led program focused on showcasing 5G prototypes for corporate end users. The Industrial 5G Accelerator will seek companies and partners in order to explore and enable further understanding of potential product and service improvements through 5G, providing industrial equipment for manufacturing, logistics, heavy industry, and relevant supply chains.

The Industrial 5G Accelerator will be launched on October 22, and we currently have an open call for companies to apply. Applications will close late November, and our partnerships will be announced at the end of this year with a view to showcase new 5G industrial use cases in Q1/Q2 2020.