Intel is working on two new initiatives intended to drive innovation in 5G and the industrial Internet of Things (IoT).

The first involves working with Ericsson to create 5GI2, an open industry initiative targeted at 5G distributed edge technologies. The group, which so far has attracted participants from GE, Honeywell, and the University of California at Berkeley, is already working in the industrial IoT space by developing pilots that will incorporate technologies like augmented and virtual reality.

In an interview with SDxCentral, Asha Keddy, vice president and general manager of next generation standards at Intel Communications and Devices Group, said the group is already conducting a pilot of a first responder drone surveillance program for hazardous environments. The pilot not only includes a blueprint of the network but also looks at network speed and connectivity, provides security, and delivers analytics.

The 5GI2 group will also conduct demos of network slicing, which will be useful for applications like smart cities and autonomous driving. “Network slicing helps us differentiate mission-critical data from a cute cat video,” Keddy says.

The second initiative involves working with Nokia to launch two 5G solutions labs, one in Murray Hill, New Jersey, and one in Espoo, Finland.  The two labs will work with operators and others to test and integrate 5G technologies based upon the 3GPP standards.

The labs will integrate LTE, 4.5G, 4.5G Pro and 4.9G using Intel’s 5G trial platform and Nokia’s equipment. Keddy said that although operators have their own 5G test labs set up around the world, those labs tend to use equipment from multiple vendors. However, setting up all that equipment for every vendor can be a burden for the operator. The Nokia/Intel lab allows them to demonstrate the performance while just using Intel and Nokia’s equipment.

In the New Jersey lab, Keddy said that operators can, for example, test how the network performs in a dense urban area.