The Edge Outlook The Now, the New and the Next of edge computing 1) Now: CIOs are realizing that Introduction the edge is the key to unleashing Companies today are facing a mammoth task. The world in which they operate in is changing – at a rate innovative opportunities exacerbated by a disruptive pandemic, the climate crisis, First, we had the PC era. Then came the “post-PC” era, defined by the and rising social and political tensions – and they are portability and connectivity of mobile devices and the Cloud. Now, we being asked to step up to help society meet these new have officially entered a new era of computing: distributed intelligence. IDC challenges. At the same time, our reliance on technology predicts that by 2025, every connected person in the world will have at least has increased and data is growing exponentially, which one digital data interaction every 18 seconds—likely from one of the billions in turn has accelerated digital transformation and driven of IoT devices, which are expected to generate over 90 ZB of data in 2025. pervasive demand for computing power. This era brings with it a number of We are entering a revolutionary era of distributed intelligence, Enter the edge. fast-growing opportunities, such as and there is a key technology inflection that will allow businesses automation and hyper-personalisation. Enter the edge. According to IDC, to keep up with this unprecedented pace of change. Edge But capitalizing on these opportunities spending on edge computing will hit computing. Putting compute closer to data sources at the edge – requires that data be tapped for value $250 billion by 2024, led by a future of i.e., all the data endpoints that exist outside the data centre, from – a task that is becoming increasingly ‘extraordinary value and opportunity.’ smartphones and PCs to IoT devices and sensors – is the only harder as the amount of data explodes, way to manage the volume of data now being generated. Edge CIOs know that data strategy must be particularly with COVID-19 accelerating computing will also play a pivotal role in enabling businesses to a top priority, with recent research from the growth of remote environments realize the advantages of emerging technology, like 5G and AI. HPE Aruba demonstrating that they are and connected. Put simply, the edge is where businesses can turn ambitious recognizing that analyzing real-time ideas into reality. During the first lockdown, broadband data nearer to the Edge yields greater data usage increased by 47%, Zoom’s efficiencies and insights, which enhances Edge computing is already transforming entire companies, from measurement of “annualized meeting business outcomes. According to the the way they operate to the products and services they deliver. minutes” jumped 20-fold, from 100 billion global study, 72% of IT leaders are CIOs cannot afford to ignore the edge any longer. at the end of January to over two trillion already using Edge technologies to deliver new outcomes. This report will provide predictions on the now, new, and next in April, while Microsoft Teams set a of edge computing to help businesses achieve real business record of 2.7 billion total meeting minutes While barriers to adoption remain outcomes, such as driving operational efficiencies to creating in a single day. Sending all this data – a recent IDG pollfound that identifying new products and opening new revenue streams. It also includes back to the cloud for processing would clear use cases, security, lack of internal real use cases from Intel customers, offering insight into how be impractical, not only because of the skills and cost concerns are among the top companies across key industries have successfully leveraged latency, but because of the sheer volume considerations – this suggests that CIOs this technology, and practical advice from Digital Pioneer and of data involved. are beginning to understand the value of AI Scientist, Inma Martinez. At Intel we believe now is the time to the edge. They recognise that the edge quickly accelerate the move to edge computing to deliver the best means working towards a future where business outcomes. data is no longer stored where it has no value. Instead, companies who adopt edge technologies can move, process and % extract value from this data in real time – 76 the key to innovation. stated that identifying This creates a new urgency for companies. “the ideal location” With numerous examples of edge for data analysis deployments already generating real business value across multiple industries, was challenging companies wanting to stay competitive forward progress must act now.

2 3 2) New: Companies will bring the edge to life, fuelling innovation and optimisation across every industry Edge computing is already bringing digital services to the next frontier working in synergy with critical technologies like AI and 5G. Among Intel customers alone, there is over 24,000 edge deployments generating real business value and helping companies grow and innovate in the distributed intelligence era. In this next section, we have used these customer stories to show how the edge is transforming four key industries: retail, industrial, healthcare and telecommunications. 1. Retail: Transforming shopping and inventory management. The retail sector understands the increased Today’s digital signs and interactive kiosks Finally, Edge-powered video analytics demand for technology to help ease current are connected, intelligent, and responsive, and AI that can identify potential criminal challenges, with retailers forced to accelerate with smart sensors and cameras making it behaviour in real-time mean that their digital transformation in response possible for kiosks to recognize products, criminal activity like shoplifting and label Today’s digital to COVID-19. The edge, with its capacity respond to touchless gestures, and even switching, whether an autonomous store to deliver competitive advantages like address loss prevention. Vision capabilities or otherwise, saving stores money and signs and increased efficiency and enhanced customer for AI-powered analytics also let retailers enabling a safer shopping environment. experiences, will be fundamental to helping know when a message is truly effective. interactive kiosks retailers thrive in the future of retail For instance, Intel customer Wonderstore, – a future shaped by unprecedented an Italian luxury computer vision boutique, are connected, levels of engagement, personalisation, uses visual sensors and real-time analysis and convenience. powered by edge technologies to customise intelligent, The opportunities for retail companies at store experiences based on customers’ the edge fall primarily into two categories. fashion choices, sentiment, and dwell time. Not only has Wonderstore’s shop window and responsive First, insights generated by the edge are conversion rate improved by nearly correcting massive amounts of inventory 17%, they have also been able to optimise distortion while making supply chains and personnel management and create seamless product development incredibly efficient. omnichannel experiences that extend the Thanks to the edge, retailers are using customer journey beyond the physical store. machine vision to address this challenge by enabling predictive inventory and supply Another use case is autonomous stores, chain control – ensuring that critical which allow contactless convenience and materials are in the hands of those who safety. Data flowing from supermarket need them most. shelves, conveying important information on inventory, traffic flow, purchase frequency Secondly, the edge is providing and linger time, can be combined with real-time consumer behaviour analysis, sensors, computer vision, and robotics to empowering retailers to deliver increased deliver automated checkouts and “just walk convenience and more engaging, out” purchase experiences at point of sale. personalised experiences.

4 5 2. Industrial: Driving transformative results for Industry 4.0 Edge technologies are driving the fourth These edge deployments helped Intel industrial revolution, which brings digital customer Audi boost weld inspections by and physical technologies together 100 times with 18ms latency and reduce – AI and IoT, additive manufacturing labour costs by 30 to 50 percent at their robotics, and cloud computing – to Neckarsulm plant in Germany, one of the create more flexible, responsive, and company’s two principal assembly plants. interconnected enterprises that make Increasing automation and efficiency better decisions, fast. is not about replacing workers. These Its great potential to transform industrial innovations reduce risking employees processes is largely due to the amounts opportunities and enable new knowledge of raw data generated by machines. and skills.. Edge computing is even One such use case is condition-based enhancing employee experience by monitoring and predictive maintenance. powering wearable and handheld Hyperconverged edge data centres augmented reality (AR) devices that speed perform analytics and filter data locally on-the-job safety training, provide hands for faster asset condition assessment, free complex assembly instructions, and opening up the possibility of maintenance display equipment stats like temperature contracts based on actual machine health. and vibration to assist maintenance. Edge computing is also working to remove human error and limitations from manufacturing. With the help of machine learning, edge computing collects, aggregates, and filters data from multiple Edge computing machines, processes, and systems to adapt the manufacturing process in real- collects, aggregates, time and deliver precision monitoring and filters data and control. Additionally, AI-based robotic process from multiple automation (RPA) systems are being used machines, processes, to perform repetitive and potentially hazardous tasks with greater speed and and systems to adapt accuracy than humans, and machine vision is being used to validate features the manufacturing and check for defects, helping to deliver the highest-quality product possible. process

6 7 Healthcare has undergone a digital transformation, with COVID-19 highlighting the imperative for new digital solutions

3. Healthcare: 4. Telecommunications: The commercialization Revolutionising patient outcomes Driving network and of 5G, the rise of AI and The edge’s full potential as world- Another use case is robotics – edge operational efficiency the growth of the edge changing technology that enriches computing is enabling robots to function the lives of every person on Earth more autonomously supporting health As the telecommunications industry creates a multiplier will be clearly demonstrated in the workers, enhancing patient care and prepares for 5G, it is important to consider effect thatmakes each healthcare sector. providing operational efficiencies and the fundamental role that the edge will also play in helping them deliver services. Like retail, healthcare has undergone a risk reduction. more impactful than it The volume and complexity of 5G services digital transformation, with COVID-19 One autonomous robot prototype, will surge at the edge, and pushing highlighting the imperative for new developed by the Irish start-up Akara, would be on its own. computing closer to data is the only way digital solutions. Not only did the uses motion sensors and UV light to to achieve the ultra-low latency that 5G pandemic expose the lack of efficiency, disinfect contaminated surfaces, aiding use cases require. The commercialization accuracy, and speed, it also challenged in the fight against COVID-19 by creating of 5G, the rise of AI and the growth of healthcare providers to find a new way to safer environments for employees and the edge creates a multiplier effect that see and treat their patients. Telemedicine reducing long downtimes caused by the makes each more impactful than it would helped solved this problem by keeping traditional disinfection process. be on its own. Machine learning can help patients connected to their providers – These healthcare use cases prove that telecom operators increase network and now that is has proven its value, it is the edge is about more than just business and operational efficiency to meet here to stay. outcomes – it is also about empowering rising service level expectations while Pushing compute to the edge allows the companies to create real-world impact. simultaneously reducing costs. With AI healthcare industry to unlock even more Edge computing is already helping to and analytics-based engines, operators benefits of telemedicine. In addition to deliver more accessible healthcare gain the ability to intelligently manage 5G enabling safer, remote environments and better patient outcomes, but as AI networks to achieve key network KPIs, for patients and providers, telemedicine and robotics technology become more network automation, energy savings and offers greater, more reliable access for sophisticated and the use of wearables operational flexibility in order to serve a rural and underserved communities and and other connected medical devices wide variety of 5G and Edge use cases. patients with limited mobility. grow, the ability to utilise data in real-time We recently helped Japan’s Rakuten will prove life-changing. It also delivers a higher quality of care and Mobile develop the world’s first container- clinical efficiencies by enabling frequent based, fully cloud-native network, which patient monitoring and data collection, dramatically reduced their reliance integration with electronic health records, on dedicated hardware and legacy and AI-powered patient data analysis. infrastructure. They are also using edge There are already multiple examples of data centres to provide rapid response machine and deep learning inference times for applications and rich media being used in image-based diagnostics to content – enabling their mobile network speed the detection of health issues and to support immersive, multi-sensory save lives, such as Philips, who managed experiences for customers. to speed CT scan imaging by 188 times without adding accelerators.

8 9 The edge makes possible a world 3) Next: Companies who employ where all of a sudden, every single object siloed approaches and do not has the potentiality embrace collaboration will fail for information – information that can to extract value from the edge be extracted and In truth, 5G and edge technologies are inextricably linked. The rise of 5G used in real-time. is critical to the future of the edge – it is the promise of a world of new 5G-enabled use cases that makes investing in the next-generation network a smart financial decision.

Its ultra-reliable low-latency Consider the incredible opportunities With the edge set to transform every capabilities make the shorter that this will open up for sectors such area of life and business, CIOs must connection between the device as healthcare. Integrated wearables embrace collaboration and leverage and the edge even more efficient, will be able to track patient vitals ecosystems that allow them to allowing enterprises to capitalise on throughout the day and transmit capitalize on all its opportunities. massive amounts of data. data for easy, ongoing evaluation Siloed approaches will fail. Fragmented strategies will hinder their ability to But this future is impossible without and to inform treatment. This level extract value from the edge and leave collaboration. Leading AI expert Inma of monitoring can help patients them lagging behind as their industry Martinez urges CIOs to remember with chronic conditions, such as – and society – evolves around them. that “Deploying on the edge, and cardiovascular disease, diabetes, extracting its benefits are only possible and asthma, better manage their when you have solid alliances and own health and may even help partnerships with every member of prevent urgent care and emergency your ecosystem.” department visits. It will also make possible fully automated image-based The edge is also the key to maximising diagnosis with zero human error. the benefits of what Martinez calls “a magical world of connected devices.” With this unprecedented amount of It is this connectivity that Martinez information, the edge can – and will considers most exciting, not just for – change the way we communicate, enterprises, but for society as a whole. move, work, shop. The edge will ultimately change the way we work “Data has always been a cornerstone and live. In all industries, enterprises of civilisation, even going back to will be able to better predict events, the Bronze Age,” she says. “The edge track performance, gain better makes possible a world where all of understanding of customers and build a sudden, every single object has innovative products and services. the potentiality for information – information that can be extracted and used in real-time.”

10 11 To learn more about best practices at the Edge, visit here.

About Inma Martinez (report contributor) Inma Martinez is an industry recognised technologist for having pioneered A.I. personalisation and creating other disruptive digital technologies since the 1990s. In 2021 she was appointed an expert member to the Global Partnership on AI (GPAI), a multi-nations initiative empowered by the OECD and G7 which aims to bridge the gap between theory and practice on AI by supporting cutting-edge research and applied activities on AI-related priorities. Fortune and TIME have defined Inma as one of the best talents in human digital behaviour and FastCompany has labelled her a “firestarter” for her cutting edge work in innovation ranging from wearable technologies to connected cars and smart cities to video and music streaming.

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