Ericsson has signed an agreement with the Brazilian Government to create a Networked Society Lab in Brazil to drive Internet of Things (IoT) innovation in the country.
The Lab will test new technologies and measure the positive impact of IoT projects including smart water, agriculture, rainforest protection, disaster prevention and monitoring applications. The Networked Society Lab in Brazil will be inaugurated on April 29, with the project part of the Ericsson Innovation Centre, which works in cooperation with universities, customers, suppliers and development agencies to foster the IoT ecosystem in Brazil and Latin America.
“The Internet of Things is quickly emerging as a very significant agent of transformation as it blends the physical and digital worlds. By cooperating with Ericsson's Networked Society Lab, we will better understand and be at the forefront of how we can sustainably improve agriculture, smart cities, energy and industrial production, among other areas, in Brazil,” said André Figueiredo, Brazil’s Minister of Communications.
Maximiliano Martinhão, Secretary of Telecommunications, said the cooperation with European Union and European companies was an important component of the Brazilian strategy for IoT and 5G developments. “Recently, we did a joint statement together with the European Commission for Digital Economy and Society about this partnership and we can already see the fruits of this initiative,” he said.
The Ericsson Innovation Centre in Latin America employs 460 people and has filed 80 patents related to connected buses and bus stops in Goiânia, as well as the public safety solution deployed in São José dos Campos. “This Networked Society Lab illustrates our commitment to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),” said Ulf Ewaldsson, chief technology officer at Ericsson.
“The Lab will help bring Brazil one step closer to 5G, where new device and sensor technologies leverage network connectivity to power a variety of use cases, such as smarter solutions in agriculture and natural disaster prevention.”
