Enterprise wireless networking specialist Expeto (Seattle, WA) announced that it has partnered with T-Mobile, Microsoft, Intel, Amdocs, Nokia, Dell and other technology innovators to create the 5G Open Innovation Lab, a project that will showcase 5G-powered food resiliency applications, such as soil and weather sensors, automated planting, harvesting automation, irrigation management and artificial intelligence (AI) analytics engines, to offer unique insights that increase agricultural yields, improve profits and save time.
Expeto partnered on this economic development initiative as funded by a grant through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act). Titled The Food Resiliency Project, the new field lab establishes a virtual and physical space for Snohomish County to help food growers, and distributors with technology companies to collaboratively develop new capabilities that will improve the resiliency of the agriculture sector and minimize future food service disruptions for consumers and regional agribusiness.
The unique testing environment enables ruggedized edge networking and computer resources literally located in the barns of small farming operations. Covering large areas of land, the project leverages Expeto's Enterprise Wireless Networking (EWN) platform and relevant partner innovations to put technology to work in the fields.
"The field lab is an excellent opportunity to demonstrate practical applications which can make a meaningful difference in the overall yield of these farming businesses," said Michael Anderson, CEO of Expeto. "According to the United Nations, food production will have to double in the very near future in order to meet growing population demand. Farming, as an industry, will have to leverage innovations, like we see in the field lab, to help farmers, and for that matter, participants from all verticals, to scale existing supply chains to meet growing market demand."
5G Open Innovation Lab General Partner Jim Brisimitzis added, "Over the coming year, the Food Resiliency lab will work closely with farmers, Washington State University, and its partners to deploy applications and measure the outcomes relevant to improving the overall operations. The lab and its partners will publish the results to the global agriculture community and technology ecosystems to help improve food resiliency worldwide."
To track ongoing learning and the results of this program follow http://5GOILab.com. To learn more about Expeto's Enterprise Wireless Networking platform visit http://expeto.io.