“Open Generation allows us to educate the ecosystem about the technology and work on use cases that key players and the market need. We gain the opportunity to socialize our ideas, share our knowledge, and at the same time, create a stronger, better-integrated ecosystem because we are enabling the ecosystem together.”
– Dev Singh, Senior Director, Business Development, GM of Robotics, Drones, and Intelligent Machines, Qualcomm Technologies
As one of the world’s leading wireless tech innovators, Qualcomm Technologies pushes the boundaries of what’s possible to enable next-gen experiences and drive digital transformation to help create a smarter, connected future for all. The company joined MITRE Engenuity Open Generation as a core member in 2021 and quickly became involved in multiple working groups.
Dev Singh, Senior Director, Business Development and GM of Robotics, Drones, and Intelligent Machines at Qualcomm Technologies, is among those representing the company in its collaborative efforts with Open Generation. In this member spotlight, Dev explains how Qualcomm Technologies becoming a core member of Open Generation granted the opportunity to collaborate with other tech industry leaders and lift the tide of the 5G market for all.
Q: What does Open Generation offer that other collaboration opportunities do not?
As one of the technology thought leaders, we have been working with 3GPP and other bodies for the past several years, but membership in Open Generation gives bi-directional exposure to the detailed discussions on the use cases. Qualcomm Technologies builds great technology. Open Generation allows us to educate the ecosystem about the technology and work on use cases that key players and the market need. We gain the opportunity to socialize our ideas, share our knowledge, and at the same time, create a stronger, better-integrated ecosystem because we are enabling the ecosystem together.
Q: What is unique that Qualcomm Technologies brings to Open Generation?
Qualcomm Technologies’ unique perspective is taking some of our existing technology into new use cases, like public safety and package delivery. The technology has to be ready for it to translate to those use cases, so we worked on the technology and got it ready. Now, we are working on the next leg of the technology to enable those use cases, which could ultimately mean flying cars or swarms of drones. So, when we get there, maybe even four years from now, it should be on the agenda for Open Generation to talk about pilotless taxis.
Q: Are there specific working groups or use cases Qualcomm Technologies wants to influence?
We are actively driving and influencing work related to cellular D2D technologies for remote identification and detect and avoid systems (DAA). We expect to drive further work on DAA, in particular network-assisted DAA solutions, and we have an interest in solutions related to enabling C2CSPs and creating a more harmonized C2 ecosystem for UAVs that can truly satisfy the market needs. Qualcomm Technologies shines at taking the lead in unchartered territories that are still at the cusp of exploration, like DAA, and finding ways to accomplish those needs. We think we can add more value, provide direction, and continue participating in other use cases like public safety and delivery.
Q: What does Qualcomm Technologies hope to gain from participation in Open Generation?
Ultimately, we want to create use cases that generate revenue. We want to be thought leaders, but we also want to be beneficiaries along with the industry on the existing use cases that we’ve helped enable so far, such as public safety and drones for first responders, etc. We’re also interested in taking thought leadership on factory robots or any other robotics opportunities like delivery robots that will be using 5G because we have a significant play in those areas as well.
There are many like-minded people and industry experts within Open Generation, lifting the tide of 5G use cases and the 5G market. Coming together to help the ecosystem is phenomenal. That is the most significant value of Qualcomm Technologies being part of it.
Q: How does Qualcomm Technologies benefit from being on the management committee?
The consortium is a two-way street. The output of working together creates a lot for the industry. The ecosystem and all the members will benefit from it. Qualcomm Technologies was invited to the management committee because we are a beacon for technology. Knowledge only grows by sharing and collaborating, influencing some of the discussions, bringing value to future activities, and setting the direction for the group is what is powerful about being part of the management committee.
Q: How do you see Open Generation’s work influencing 5G acceleration?
We work with many standards bodies, like 3GPP and others in various regions, but we chose to join Open Generation because of the variety of activities and programs. There’s a considerable value to Qualcomm being able to contribute to all of them and get the pulse of like-minded people and the industry. To conduct live studies instead of paper studies as a team of different partners is inspiring because there’s nothing like people working together on a testbed.
When you are working together with a lot of people on proof of concepts or MVPs, these things are very valuable because this is what will feed into FAA and other standards bodies. It is on industry leaders like Qualcomm Technologies, Verizon, and others to get together and showcase actual data and use the data as “proof of validity” for the technologies we are testing to convince regulators and standards.
For example, the reason LTE aerial features of 3GPP in Release 15 sailed smoothly was the extensive testing Qualcomm Technologies did and the amount of empirical evidence we provided to convince the body of the need for such solutions and their validity.
Q: What is special about working on the nation’s first FAA-designated unscrewed aircraft systems (UAS) test site with a private 5G network?
The beauty about the FAA-designated 5G aviation range for UAS is not only that Verizon is involved, and that not only Qualcomm Technologies is involved, but that there is the actual product. NUAIR airspace guys are involved. We are bringing in Zipline as one of the partners for testing out their drone with Qualcomm® Robotics RB5 platform, which is a 5G enabled platform.
Collaborate with leaders like Qualcomm Technologies to drive 5G innovation
Working in the public interest to drive U.S. strategic competition, Open Generation members and collaborators come from all sectors to realize and commercialize 5G capabilities that are greater than what any member could arrive at independently. The work continues and still requires diverse collaboration among industry leaders, startups, researchers, and government.
Want to support Open Generation’s mission? Download the membership overview, and let’s shape the future of 5G together.
Learn more about Open Generation’s work leveraging 5G technology to overcome safety and operational gaps for critical UAS use cases. Read about the four use cases that form the basis of UAS evaluations, testing, and experimentation.
