The companies are co-creating innovative solutions at KPN’s Field Lab in the Rotterdam Harbour area.
Accenture is collaborating with Dutch telecommunications company KPN and other innovative businesses in the KPN-led Industrial 5G Field Lab Initiative, located at the Shell Pernis Refinery in the heart of the Rotterdam Harbour area.
The goal is to prove the value of 5G applications with customers and technology partners, paving the way for the Netherlands to be a leading European player in 5G adoption.
Accenture’s role in the ecosystem is to develop and test industrial applications that use the power of the new generation of mobile networks. At the lab Accenture and KPN have successfully tested industrial applications powered by 5G technology for a variety of use cases. In the domain of preventive maintenance, they’ve used ultra-high-definition (UHD) cameras leveraging 5G to scan wide areas of connected piping. The data, collected in real-time and processed by Accenture’s digital plant corrosion analytics platform, identify high-risk corrosion areas and determine the best corrective actions.
Another use case from the lab shows how inspectors and engineers can become digital workers using 5G technology, accessing real-time information via augmented reality on a tablet and smart helmet. The smart helmet also enables the digital worker to access multiple information streams simultaneously — including voice, high-definition video, augmented reality and digital work instructions — enabling the worker to connect directly with colleagues and specialists remotely to collaborate, improve decision-making and efficient and safe execution.
“Our work with KPN and the broader ecosystem is a great example of how 5G can be applied to the B2B environment to generate tremendous productivity enhancements,” said Hanneke ten Hove, a managing director at Accenture and its client account lead for KPN. “Communication service providers like KPN can act as the connected industry orchestrator by developing a flexible and agile enterprise business that support the trillions of daily micro transactions that will emerge from the ‘internet of everything’ — and those that act now will be the biggest winners in the race to share the billions of dollars of new value created by emerging expectations of enterprise customers.”
Jacob Groote, executive vice president of Business Products at KPN, said:
“5G is not just another generation of connectivity; rather, it will affect and connect all of society. It is therefore crucial that we explore, with customers and technology partners, how 5G can optimize business processes and improve customer experience.”
“By embracing 5G early, and with Accenture’s help, we can broaden our ecosystem to connect businesses and provide new use cases across many different industries and sectors, from agriculture and logistics to manufacturing and more. The 5G Field Lab is just the start of what we can achieve in the new, connected world.”
