LIVE FROM RAKUTEN OPTIMISM BUSINESS CONFERENCE: Qualcomm president and CEO Cristiano Amon (pictured) highlighted the vast potential of combining edge computing and 5G devices connected to the cloud to bring new capabilities to various industries.

The executive explained Qualcomm believes intelligent and connected edge could radically change industry by delivering real-time data and broader contextual information.

“We will start to see the development of AI like we never seen before”, Amon explained, citing the potential to change industries including automotive, retail, healthcare and manufacturing: “The list of examples is enormous.”

Amon believes Japanese new entrant Rakuten Mobile is a model for future networks, becoming a platform for developing new services in the private and public sectors.

Climate impact
The Qualcomm CEO cited data predicting 5G will reduce emissions equivalent to removing 81 million cars from the road in the US by 2025, when the next generation technology is expected to be fully deployed in the nation.

Cellular V2X, for example, will create an intelligent transportation system capable of lowering emissions by 20 per cent.

Amon reiterated a belief a global chip shortage will begin to ease in 2022, explaining Qualcomm continues to work with manufacturers to boost capacity.

“We can start to get out of this crisis by the beginning of 2022. We’re starting to see demand meeting supply,” he said, noting the shortage indicates digital transformation is accelerating globally across industries.

Amon noted Qualcomm had been highly active in using “all possible capacity and designing products for multi-sourcing.”