Speed. We are speed.
In a flash, you could crunch more numbers than Canada has people; create a dynamic map of an entire city’s energy use; manage transportation hubs; manipulate surgical robots; even stretch the limits of artificial intelligence.
You could stream movies pretty fast, too.
With one nondescript cell tower representing a Canadian and campus milestone, Western this year became the first university in the country with an operational 5G network.
The tower is the first visible sign of the $2.7-million project to deploy 5G network equipment and infrastructure throughout the Western campus in a research partnership with Bell Canada.
Bell is also funding research and development initiatives, training opportunities and technological innovations connected to the investment and related to 5G technology itself.
The introduction of 5G opens the doors not just to lightning-fast computation but to more bandwidth to expand the Internet of Things, connect smart cities, optimize energy and water use, or explore millions of datasets across a range of really complex systems.
While the single tower is operational now, a full roll-out across campus is expected by summer, 2021.
Science professor Anwar Haque, whose digital tool assesses the privacy and effectiveness of contact tracing apps, also researches how to maximize the efficiency and security of technology made possible through 5G.
