IBM, IMDA, M1 AND Samsung to Collaborate on Singapore’s First 5G Industry 4.0 Trial

SINGAPORE, May 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — IBM (NYSE: IBM), the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), M1 Limited (M1) and Samsung today announced Singapore’s first 5G Industry 4.0 trial, to demonstrate the transformative impact of 5G for enterprises and drive the next bound of Singapore’s digital economy. This announcement is part of IBM’s edge computing solutions for the 5G era announced at IBM Think 2020.

IBM, IMDA, M1 AND SAMSUNG TO COLLABORATE ON SINGAPORE’S FIRST 5G INDUSTRY 4.0 TRIAL
IBM, IMDA, M1 AND SAMSUNG TO COLLABORATE ON SINGAPORE’S FIRST 5G INDUSTRY 4.0 TRIAL

The trial aims to develop insights and showcase benefits of 5G in Industry 4.0[1]. It will be an innovation model that allows for development, testing and benchmarking of 5G-enabled solutions that can be applied across various industries.

This partnership consists of the following three main areas:

  • 5G Innovation: The trial aims to design, develop, test and benchmark 5G-enabled industry 4.0 solutions that can be applied across various industries.
  • 5G Solution Showcase: Solutions developed will be featured at IBM’s Industry 4.0 Studio[2] 5G Solutions Showcase. The showcase will feature Industry 4.0 solutions powered by 5G and leveraging capabilities such as Internet-of-Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence. The aim is to help proliferate 5G solutions to different industry sectors in Singapore.
  • 5G Solutions Roll-out: IBM and Samsung will evaluate successful solutions developed during the project for possible use in their operations in a broad range of markets and sectors.

5G’s capabilities such as faster data transfer and more-rapid response times, when coupled with other transformative technologies like AI, can enable significant improvements to manufacturing processes. The project will test 5G-enabled use cases for manufacturing, focusing on three main areas:

  • Automated visual inspection using AI for image recognition and video analytics;
  • Improved equipment monitoring and predictive maintenance using AI-enabled acoustic insights; and
  • Assembly and debugging using augmented reality to improve productivity and quality

The trial at the Industry 4.0 Studio will commence in Q2, 2020 and will be conducted at IBM Singapore’s Centre of Competency (CoC) for Smart Factory Operating Model for sharing of ideas and best practices. This makes IBM Singapore the ideal location for the trial, and solutions could be ultimately rolled out to other IBM Manufacturing sites, globally.

Successful 5G-enabled Industry 4.0 use-cases developed from this trial could be demonstrated for manufacturing enterprises and applied to production, service, quality control, and testing across a broad range of industries.

Partnership between IBM, IMDA, M1 and Samsung

IBM will implement and test Industry 4.0 use cases that will leverage IBM’s AI, IoT, edge, and augmented reality technologies, and network architecture built on IBM systems using open solutions infrastructure from Red Hat.

“We want to complement Singapore’s Smart Nation and Digital Economy efforts and empower enterprises and industry players with a robust and versatile 5G launch-pad through this trial. This will allow businesses to leverage digital technologies to create next-generation solutions and be responsive to rapidly changing market and 5G adoption in Singapore. IBM has built industry-leading hybrid cloud, AI and security capabilities underpinned by deep industry expertise. With support from IMDA and our strategic partners Samsung and M1, this collaboration will seed Singapore’s 5G capabilities and strengthen its position as a leading industrial innovation hub, and move us closer in fulfilling our Industry 4.0 vision,” said Martin Chee, Managing Director, IBM Singapore.

IMDA will share the learnings and solutions developed through this partnership with Singapore businesses and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises in the manufacturing sector, and 5G innovation ecosystem participants.

“5G will be the backbone of Singapore’s Digital Economy, strengthening our national competitiveness and reinforcing our position as a global business and connectivity hub. We are excited to work with IBM, Samsung and M1 to develop 5G capabilities and innovative use-cases, and look forward to sharing the learnings with the industry to help them build new capabilities, transform their businesses and tap new opportunities. We are committed to co-investing with the industry, and welcome all companies to join us on our 5G journey,” said Tan Kiat How, Chief Executive, IMDA

Together with Samsung as network and mobile solution provider and M1 as the telco provider, 5G network framework and skillsets could be established, allowing the solutions and the 5G framework know-how to be rolled out from Singapore and commercialised in other countries.

“We are very pleased to partner with IBM, Samsung and IMDA for Singapore’s first 5G Industry 4.0 trial. This is an incredibly exciting opportunity for us to collaborate with leading industry players to develop, test and roll-out innovative 5G-enabled industry 4.0 solutions that will enhance smart manufacturing processes. Through this partnership, we hope to strengthen our in-house engineering capabilities in harnessing state-of-the-art 5G standalone (SA) technology for enabling hyper-connectivity, end-to-end network slicing, ultra-low latency, highly reliable and secured communications. With the recent award of one of Singapore’s two nationwide 5G licence, we will build a cutting-edge 5G network infrastructure and bring new consumer, enterprise and government use cases to the market as soon as the ecosystem matures, which we are certain will help bring Singapore’s Digital Economy forward,” said Denis Seek, Chief Technical Officer, M1.

“These are exciting times for the manufacturing industry. Already at the forefront of digital transformation, disruptive technologies and digitalization are now opening up new and unprecedented possibilities for the sector. New technologies will confer on tomorrow’s factories which will depend on ultra-reliable and low latency communication between machines, sensors, databases and workers’ mobile devices. Singapore has long been a leader in fostering innovation, and this 5G Industry 4.0 program is yet another validation of their technology leadership,” said KC Choi, Executive Vice President & Global Head of B2B Business, Samsung Electronics. “By combining Samsung’s end-to-end 5G Standalone (SA) network platform — including phones and devices at the edge, we are witnessing ground breaking new Industry 4.0 capabilities for enterprise clients. More importantly, work and productivity aside, 5G will be a key tool in entertaining and connecting people. We are excited to be partnering with IBM, IMDA and M1 to help make the promise of 5G a reality today and showcase this in Singapore.” 

[1]   Apart from providing a strong foundation for Industry IoT and automation, 5G would also reduce the cost of processing by shifting the load from the edge device to centralised systems. This reduces the requirement and cost for edge device thus making the application more cost effective.

[2]  The IBM Industry 4.0 Studio will be launched in June and located at Changi Business Park. Interested businesses can contact representatives of IBM, IMDA, M1 and SAMSUNG to visit the studio and view the solutions.

About IBM

For more information please visit https://www.ibm.com/cloud/.  

About Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA)

The Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) leads Singapore’s digital transformation with infocomm media. To do this, IMDA will develop a dynamic digital economy and a cohesive digital society, driven by an exceptional infocomm media (ICM) ecosystem – by developing talent, strengthening business capabilities, and enhancing Singapore’s ICM infrastructure. IMDA also regulates the telecommunications and media sectors to safeguard consumer interests while fostering a pro-business environment, and enhances Singapore’s data protection regime through the Personal Data Protection Commission.

For more news and information, visit www.imda.gov.sg or follow IMDA on Facebook IMDAsg and Twitter @IMDAsg.

About M1

M1, a subsidiary of Keppel Corporation, is Singapore’s most vibrant and dynamic communications company, providing mobile and fixed services to over two million customers. Since the launch of commercial services in 1997, M1 has achieved many firsts, including the first operator to offer nationwide 4G service, as well as ultra high-speed fixed broadband, fixed voice and other services on the Next Generation Nationwide Broadband Network (NGNBN). With a continual focus on network quality, customer service, value and innovation, M1 links anyone and anything; anytime, anywhere. For more information, visit www.m1.com.sg

Facebook: facebook.com/m1limited
Instagram: instagram.com/m1.sg
Twitter: twitter.com/m1singapore
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/m1-limited

About Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.

Samsung inspires the world and shapes the future with transformative ideas and technologies. The company is redefining the worlds of TVs, smartphones, wearable devices, tablets, digital appliances, network systems, and memory, system LSI, foundry and LED solutions. For the latest news, please visit the Samsung Newsroom at http://news.samsung.com.

For media clarifications, please contact: 

Aung Thi Ha (Mr)
Manager, Communications and Marketing, IMDA
DID: (65) 9338 2594
Email: aung_thi_ha@imda.gov.sg 

Ken Ng
Senior Executive, Corporate Communications, M1
DID: (65) 9699 0133
Email: ngcj@m1.com.sg 

Esther Low 
Head, PR & Corporate Marketing, Samsung Electronics Singapore
DID: (65) 9170 7107
Email: esther.low@samsung.com 

Selvi R
Communications Manager, IBM ASEAN
DID: (65) 9795 4165
Email: selvir@sg.ibm.com

Photo – https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20200506/2796011-1?lang=0

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