The ng Connect Program, founded by Alcatel-Lucent, is a multi-industry ecosystem dedicated to the creation of the next generation connected user experience. ng Connect is comprised of more than 190 Contributing and Associate member companies including leading network, consumer electronics, application and content providers. Among the most recent members to join the ng Connect ecosystem is Sprint, the first North America service provider to become part of the program.
“In 2012, we announced the Sprint Technology Development & Strategy team that is dedicated to seeking out and directly engaging start-ups and innovators working on emerging products, services and technology from around the globe. We see our involvement with the ng Connect program as another way to collaborate with start-ups to help them to not only develop, but also extend the reach of their products,” said Von McConnell, director, Innovation and Advanced Labs, Sprint.
Service concepts demonstrated at CES 2013 include:
– Interactive digital signage platforms featuring cloud-based services for public venues and retail shopping
– Cloud-connected tables serving advertising, entertainment, and media in transitional waiting spaces such as airports and train stations
– Energy management applications to enable utilities to offer customers a customized service that monitors and adjusts high-consumption home appliances without losing comfort or convenience
– Connected service vehicle featuring an after-market Ford Transit equipped with broadband technologies and cloud-based applications connecting mobile workers
– Connected health and wellness cloud-based services that bridge the gap between consumer personalized health and wellness programs and professional, secure telehealth services
– Cloud based learning platforms that empower teachers, while engaging students in a 21st century learning environment, as well as enterprise learning
– Communications Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) that make application development easy and quickly without having to delve into the underlying IMS technology
– An open standards-based Public Safety service concept that leverages commercial offerings for enhanced capabilities, such as vehicle tracking and surveillance, and significantly lower costs
Alcatel-Lucent products featured in the demos include: CloudBand, Digital Media Store, Ggigabit Passive Optical Network (GPON), IMS, 4G LTE, New Conversation APIs, self-healing networks, Velocix, Wi-Fi offload.
“The next generation ecosystem goes beyond traditional players—it also includes innovators in media, entertainment, consumer electronics and other sectors. The ng Connect Program brings together all these kinds of companies to overcome the technical and business barriers preventing service providers from mass deployment of the services their customers want,” said Jason Collins, VP, Emerging Technology & Innovation for Alcatel-Lucent.