Verizon Business’ new 5G Innovation Hub will open soon in Lake Nona, enabling local startups, universities, large enterprises, and the public sector to develop and test 5G-enabled solutions. The Innovation Hub will provide an opportunity to test 5G use cases for connected healthcare, autonomous mobility, smart communities, education, retail, and others.
Lake Nona is home to thousands of residents, students, visitors, national headquarters, and leading healthcare facilities. Our community provides an ideal landscape to create new and innovative experiences across a multitude of industries.
Innovators will be able to test how Verizon 5G Ultra Wideband’s super-fast speeds, high bandwidth, and low latency can enhance applications for industries prevalent in Lake Nona. Verizon’s 5G Ultra Wideband network will benefit industries such as connected healthcare and technology, autonomous mobility, smart communities, health and wellness, and sports – among others.
One trial already underway in Lake Nona is testing cellular vehicle-to-everything (C-V2X) technology with Beep, an autonomous mobility-as-a-service provider delivering the next generation of services for passenger mobility. The initial pilot will examine how C-V2X can improve the safety of Beep’s autonomous shuttles, which currently operate on several routes throughout the community. The C-V2X pilot involves Verizon’s 4G LTE and 5G Ultra Wideband networks, Multi-access Edge Compute (MEC), Real-Time Kinematics (RTK), and Computer Vision.
“5G is paving the way for unprecedented innovations that will reshape the world and have a massive impact on how we live, work, and play,” said Sampath Sowmyanarayan, SVP and president of enterprise at Verizon. “We’re creating Innovation Hubs powered by Verizon 5G Ultra Wideband to serve as launch pads for high-impact, transformational experiences and are excited to see the new 5G use cases that will be developed in Lake Nona.”
The Innovation Hub will also showcase existing 5G use cases for visitors to experience and include an executive briefing center that will provide prospects and customers access to Verizon leadership and subject matter experts. Verizon started deploying its 5G Ultra Wideband network in Lake Nona back in January of this year.
“Tavistock is fully committed to the cultivation of 5G technology to usher in a new era of connectivity,” said Juan Santos, senior vice president of innovation at Tavistock. “A 5G-enabled future will transform our daily lives in ways we’ve only just begun to imagine. We’re excited to expand our 5G capabilities in Lake Nona and to attract the brightest minds and biggest ideas to the entrepreneurial ecosystem of Orlando.”
Bringing 5G to Lake Nona is part of Verizon Business’ broader strategy to partner with enterprises, startups, universities, national labs, and government/military to explore how 5G can disrupt and transform nearly every industry. Verizon operates six 5G Labs across the U.S. and one in London that specialize in developing use cases in industries ranging from healthcare to public safety to entertainment. Verizon is also setting up 5G Innovation Hubs on-premise for several customers as part of an ongoing initiative to partner on 5G-related use cases to help customers transform their industries.
