Telecommunications company Vodafone has announced the opening of its new Edge Innovation Lab in MediaCity, Salford, which it claims is the first of its kind in the UK.
The company hopes the opening of the lab will support Manchester and the surrounding area’s development to create a ‘Northern digital powerhouse.’
The Edge Innovation Lab at the Home of Skills & Technology (HOST), will reportedly offer the opportunity for companies, academics, software developers and public sector organisations to test network technology, specifically Multi-access Edge Compute (MEC).
Those behind the hub say it will offer access to these technologies in the earliest stages of development to local software developers and other interested parties.
What’s more, this early access is intended to promote the hub into a global centre of excellence for real-time mobile applications in the region and assist the development of local digital-led businesses.
Nick Gliddon, business director, Vodafone UK, said: “MEC enables the creation of digital services and platforms that would otherwise be impossible to deliver.
“The lab offers innovators the opportunity to experiment with next-generation technologies and bring to life ideas that could revolutionise the way we do business and deliver public services.
“It will place Manchester and surrounding region at the centre of the next stage of digital revolution.”
MEC technology supports real-time data processing at the network edge, which helps create low latency services that cannot currently be supported on traditional network infrastructure, Vodafone has said.
Some use cases that can be enabled through MEC include autonomous vehicles, autonomous operations in factories, immersive augmented and virtual reality, remote medicine, cloud gaming and drone transport.
The development of the hub builds on Vodafone’s four-year partnership with HOST in MediaCity.
In addition to the launch of the lab, Vodafone is also running the Edge Innovation Programme 2.0, which is intended to support the creation of innovative products and applications using this technology.
