Chances are, you’re reading this from a smartphone, laptop, or other mobile device – and probably not thinking much about it – but it’s all thanks to groundbreaking technologies in cellular connectivity that emerged decades ago.

Fast-forward to today, where 5G is helping make the world more connected.

Qualcomm invented many of the underlying technologies that make 5G work. Why? Because we believe that connectivity benefits the greater good. We engage with a wide range of industries to accelerate the development of 5G to support worldwide connectivity – and that’s just part of the story.

In this issue

Read on and see how we help transform industries that benefit society and our day-to-day lives in education, smart cities, smart factories, and IoT.

When the pandemic hit in 2020, a long-unsolved challenge was jolted to the forefront: unequal access to the internet contributed to disparities in educational outcomes. Schools all around the country were suddenly faced with addressing how to effectively teach children when they couldn't all be in the same place. This issue hit home (literally and figuratively) in the hearts of parents, students, and teachers alike.

Qualcomm believes that 5G – and the next-generation wireless innovations it enables or makes possible – can be the key to closing the gap. And Hopkins Elementary School in the rural town of Somerset, Kentucky, is one of the first to benefit from these exciting innovations.

Hopkins is among several schools across three rural Kentucky districts that are part of the Qualcomm® Wireless Reach™ Initiative. The program aims to bring advanced technologies to underserved communities around the world, with the goal of supporting not just education, but also health care, entrepreneurship and more. “In the U.S. and around the world, we’re looking at how this technology we’re building can change people’s lives, and we’re working with local communities to help them address challenges they’re facing by giving them the tech they need,” said Angela Baker, Qualcomm Incorporated’s head of corporate responsibility and sustainability, who oversees the Wireless Reach program.

Continue the story on The Washington Post

Advancements in 5G beyond the smartphone are already having an impact on our lives. But the future of 5G is even brighter – and bigger, like “world” big.

Qualcomm’s vision of 5G is so much more than a personal connectivity technology – it’s fueling digital transformations around the world, connecting people to cars and cars to infrastructure. Yes, smart cities are fast becoming a reality with wireless connectivity innovations that are connecting transportation and infrastructure systems.

Imagine making our streets safer by making city infrastructure smarter or having your car able to see more than you can, or even improving emergency response times. Our breakthrough 5G technologies could make these possible, fostering connected spaces and systems in cities around the world. And while this has direct benefits for citizens like smarter traffic systems and faster event connectivity, technologies like 5G private networks are also laying the foundation for fast, reliable, and low-latency connectivity among businesses and industries.

Qualcomm® Smart Cities solutions* enable intelligent network connectivity and edge processing solutions. Our full suite of wide- and local-area connectivity processing technologies help bring efficiency, safety, and innovation to fast-growing urban environments. By addressing challenges within city infrastructure, energy, transportation, and buildings, we are helping to develop sustainable solutions – and position cities with an eye to the future.

Read more about the future of 5G

Can 5G help revitalize manufacturing? Qualcomm says yes. 5G provides massive wireless connectivity with the potential to accelerate a shift to the next generation of manufacturing. In fact, American manufacturing may be poised for transformative efficiency gains, thanks in part to the emergence of 5G.

Automotive plants, for example, rely on a complex set of connected devices, including robots, sensors and more – and supporting them with 5G wireless infrastructure can have profound advantages. 5G can help a company to manage thousands of devices across the massive plant floor and leverage critical data insights securely; it can also be used to support apps for wearable and handheld devices geared towards quality control and worker safety.

Our 5G breakthrough technologies are vital to realizing this industry shift. As the world’s leading wireless technology innovator, we produce technologies that form the very foundation of 5G. What’s more, our innovations are helping factories navigate challenges that come with 5G integration.

All over the country, manufacturers—from automotive and medical device makers to steel producers—are beginning to consider the transition to 5G. Designed to deliver faster speeds and highly reliable connectivity, 5G offers the promise of factories that could be safer, more efficient, and more sustainable than ever.

More information at CNBC

5G is key to unlocking the potential of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and significant advancements in the manufacturing sector. Next-generation 5G networks, both public and private, can bring countless IIoT devices online – making industrial equipment from automated guided vehicles to assembly robots more flexible than ever before. These devices can include everything from tracking tags for pallets of raw materials to automated guided vehicles and heavy industrial robots, and the manufacturing facility is where they come together.

So, what does all this mean? Simply put: with 5G, manufacturing plants can get more customizable – and flexible. More revolutionary, they can adapt and make adjustments, when needed — creating the possibility of making one product in the morning, and another in the afternoon. 5G can also simplify taking devices out of service for repair without shutting down entire processes, reducing downtime and cutting costs. That could mean nimbler, more efficient facilities. A wireless factory floor means one that is quickly reconfigurable, which can save time and money, and improve overall efficiency. That's an exciting potential of 5G.

Our 5G breakthrough technologies are driving innovations that pave the way for future factories that can be reconfigured and optimized on the fly, adapting to changing demand, increasing efficiencies, lowering costs, and contributing to a more sustainable future.

Get the scoop on CNBC

More Tech at the Edge on its way to you soon! Until then, check out how we’re making the world more connected.

Qualcomm Smart Cities solutions are products of Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. and/or its subsidiaries.