Phil Kippen of VMware (NYSE: VMW) and Chris Thomas of Dell Technologies (NYSE: DELL) said 5G enables government agencies to adopt cloud-native, distributed edge architectures and other technologies that could help them quickly come up with new services to respond to customers’ needs, improve the user experience and streamline activities.
Thomas and Kippen noted that 5G could allow agencies to accelerate data collection, generate actionable insights from data for decision-making and develop new applications.
“5G is an enabler and catalyst for other crucial and transformative technologies, such as augmented reality, virtual reality, industrial automation, real-time sensor-based telemetry, drone control, artificial intelligence and automation,” they wrote.
They discussed the impact of 5G on the cybersecurity landscape and the role of endpoint security and zero trust approach in securing large volumes of data and connected devices.
Kippen and Thomas explained how network slicing can be used by agencies as an approach to address differences in service-level agreements.
“Network slicing involves logically segmenting services and the resources they consume based on a service profile and associated quality-of-service requirements. With network slicing, agencies can segment, aggregate, deliver and manage services based on service-level agreements and requirements,” they wrote.
They said agencies that intend to make strategic investments in 5G should design distributed edge architectures that are scalable, select the right platform for the delivery of cloud-native services, implement workflow automation capabilities and platforms, use DevOps models and establish and implement strategies to manage and ensure the security of 5G services delivery.
“Ultimately, the goal is to implement a platform that is capable of supporting today’s application and service delivery requirements while ensuring that the platform is built with enough flexibility to evolve and support the adoption of future use cases and services,” they added.
Kippen and Thomas called on agencies seeking to adopt 5G-enabled platforms to collaborate with industry partners as they work to choose new technologies and products.
“It takes an ecosystem to meet the government’s technology challenges, and agencies must be able to evaluate new technologies, receive input from a variety of sources along the way and manage those dialogs for the purpose of continuous improvement,” they noted.
Kippen is senior director of solution architects and business development at VMware. Thomas is lead systems architect at Dell Technologies.
