How 5G Is Enabling the Next Industrial Revolution

Tim Baxter, President and CEO of Samsung Electronics North America, and Verizon Sr. VP and Chief Product Officer Sowmyanarayan Sampath participated in a panel hosted by NVTC Chair Rich Montini on the future (and present) of 5G technology.

I had the pleasure of attending this year’s Northern Virginia Technology Council Tech Titans breakfast, where hundreds of members of the D.C. area tech community gathered to discuss the future of 5G technology and networks.

Tim Baxter, president and CEO of Samsung Electronics North America, keynoted with Sowmyanarayan Sampath, senior vice president and chief product officer at Verizon, to bring to life what a world powered by 5G will look like. 5G will usher in things never before possible, enhancing both enterprise and consumer experiences across government, public safety and a wide range of other industries.

Samsung and Verizon have worked together closely to lead the development of 5G, culminating in Verizon’s announcement of a 5G commercial launch in four markets by the end of the year.
5G networks are driving mobile innovation in the form of connected solutions — from accelerating smart connectivity to providing massive bandwidth to driving advanced analytics, capabilities and experiences.

Consumers, industry leaders, and decisionmakers must take note because 5G isn’t just imminent in the future — it’s already here. “For years, we’ve talked about the convergence of all of this, and it’s actually happening now with 5G,” Baxter said. “We’ve lived in a world with discrete devices for discrete uses . Now, the connection and new experiences enabled by 5G creates a connected experience across phones, cars, wearables and even cities.”

With artificial intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), big data and mobility all being critical topics in the tech landscape, it’s important that leaders consider how 5G can enable these technologies and join them together to provide seamless connectivity.

“5G is going to enable a completely new industrial revolution by bridging the physical, digital and biological,” Sampath said. “You have all these silos with nanotechnologies. Now is the time to stitch all of that together to make it seamless in our lives. That’s what 5G does, it carries the data at the right speed and the right latency to make that stitch happen.”

For Samsung, pursuing 5G networks has been a multi-year journey. Initially, 2G was about putting the phone in the user’s pocket; 3G and 4G put the internet in the user’s pocket. Now, 5G will put the power of fiber optics in everyone’s pocket — homes, businesses, and cities.

“It’s a future that’s beginning now,” Baxter concluded. “With 35 years of U.S. wireless innovation at Samsung — and 5G as the cornerstone of it all — we’re looking to power AI, connected cloud and all these critical enablers. This is a once-in-a-decade opportunity to revolutionize what we do and how we do it.”

About the Author
With over 27 years of experience in the defense, intelligence and transportation industries, Chris Balcik currently leads Federal government sales for Samsung’s B2B Mobile division. Chris brings with him expertise in assisting public and private sector clients including the FAA, DNI and DoD on complex, large-scale systems engineering and technology transformations, concept of operations design, program management, business case analysis, and business process optimization. Prior to entering the civilian workforce, Chris was an Officer in the United States Air Force leading Command and Control support to military operations.

This piece was originally published on Samsung Insights.