We discuss the following topics in this blog:
- Future of digital transformation for businesses.
- Useing data science and digital platform to accelerate digitization.
In addition to these topics, we shall also be answering the following FAQs:
- What is WiFi?
- What is 5G NR?
Juhi: Talking of digital transformation STL was amongst the first few companies to have a CXO level position of a Chief transformation officer. The transformation officer at STL uses data science and digital platform to accelerate the digital transformation journey. While STL has been very fortunate to have been ahead of the curve, a lot of smaller companies have not been. In this context what do you think is the future of digital transformation for businesses?
Dr. Anand: This is extremely extremely important. As I keep saying that don’t do digital for the sake of doing digital or because it is cool to have chief transformation or chief digital office but you cannot anymore do without it because it’s now becoming a clear value proposition for the customer and clear differentiation from the competition.
When we started with our journey we started looking at which areas of our customer journey can we transform and that’s why we are calling it a transformation office where digital is a tool and not saying that it is digital transformation. So we are looking at the transformation of processes. Making processes lean and agile.
Looking at areas where you can have certain things done with robotic automation. Looking at things that you can do with a very good level of decision support through data analytics. The idea is to create a very high degree of very well-defined customer experience, a very high degree of repeatability, a very high-quality decision support system business intelligence framework put on that leads to that decision support system and that helps the company become very agile and makes the whole control loop extremely fast.
You are doing business process re-engineering as you go along you are developing and operating the DevOps framework is applied everywhere. So I see this interface between the software and hardware world between the digital and physical world being clearly the way to go moving way forward
FAQs
What is WiFi?
Put simply, WiFi is a technology that uses radio waves to create a wireless network through which devices like mobile phones, computers, printers, etc., connect to the internet. A wireless router is needed to establish a WiFi hotspot that people in its vicinity may use to access internet services. You’re sure to have encountered such a WiFi hotspot in houses, offices, restaurants, etc.
To get a little more technical, WiFi works by enabling a Wireless Local Area Network or WLAN that allows devices connected to it to exchange signals with the internet via a router. The frequencies of these signals are either 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz bandwidths. These frequencies are much higher than those transmitted to or by radios, mobile phones, and televisions since WiFi signals need to carry significantly higher amounts of data. The networking standards are variants of 802.11, of which there are several (802.11a, 802.11b, 801.11g, etc.).
What is 5G NR?
5G typically refers to the fifth generation of wireless technology. NR, commonly known as New Radio, is a standard developed by the 3GPP Group (Release 15 being the first version introduced back in 2018) outlining the technology required to harness the newly-available millimeter-wave frequencies. The two frequency bands in which 5GNR operates are Frequency Range 1, i.e., Sub 6GHz band (410 MHz to 7125 MHz), and Frequency Range 2, i.e., millimeter-wave (24.25 to 52.6 GHz). Over 4G LTE, 5G NR provides better spectrum utilization, faster data rates, hardware efficiency, and improved signal processing.
From a deployment standpoint, we have Non-Standalone Mode(NSA), Dynamic Spectrum Sharing(DSS), and Standalone Mode (SA). The initial deployments of 5G NR are based on NSA standards, meaning the existing 4G LTE network will operate on the control plane, and 5G NR will be introduced to the user plane. This particular standard was introduced by 3GPP, keeping in mind the industry’s push to faster 5G services rollout while utilizing the existing 4G LTE infrastructure currently in place. On the other hand, operators are also implementing Dynamic Spectrum Sharing (DSS) to accelerate the deployment cycle, reducing costs and improving spectrum utilization. In this standard, the same spectrum is shared between the 5G NR and 4G LTE, multiplexing over time per user demands. Lastly, we have the Standalone Mode (SA), which moves towards a complete 5G based network where both signaling and the information transfer are driven by a 5G cell.
In the future, 5G will enable new services, connect new industries and devices, empower new experiences, and much more, providing mission-critical services, enhanced mobile broadband, and various other things.
a) Enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) Applications: High device connectivity, High mobile data rates, and Mobile AR & VR applications
b) Ultra-reliable, low-latency communications (uRLLC)Applications: Autonomous vehicles, Drones, Data monitoring, Smart mfg.
c) Massive machine-type communications (mMTC)Applications: Healthcare, Industry 4.0, Logistics, Environmental monitoring, Smart farming, Smart grids