Accelerating the 5G Industrial Revolution

For the latest Capgemini Research Institute report, Accelerating the 5G Industrial Revolution: State of 5G and edge in industrial operations, we surveyed with senior executives from 1,000 industrial organisations that plan to adopt 5G as part of their operations, and 150 senior executives from 75 telecom organisations that either have or are planning to roll out 5G networks.

Most organisations, we found, are just embarking on their 5G journeys. In fact, only 30% have reached the trial and real-world implementation stages. Despite this, these early adopters are already seeing tangible business benefits, and as many as 60% of them have increased their operational efficiency. But maximising 5G potential is not without its challenges, which range from a lack of 5G devices, integration with existing networks, identifying the right use cases, to accessing vertical-specific solutions, managing cybersecurity, orchestrating a multi-vendor environment, and containing the environmental impact of 5G implementation.

To counter these challenges, telcos, cloud providers, OEMs, and other partners must together build a resilient ecosystem of devices, solutions, and service offerings. In these early days of 5G implementation, it is especially important that telcos quickly build essential capabilities to become providers of vertical-specific solutions rather than just being connectivity providers.

5G, combined with edge computing, can help organisations unlock value through new, previously impossible industrial use cases.