Qualcomm will collaborate on smart cities deployments with Infinite Computer Solutions using an Internet of Things-as-a-Service business model, the companies announced Tuesday.
Their approach is designed to reduce the fragmentation that has dragged down IoT-related smart city projects in recent years, with many vendors attempting to sell proprietary technologies to cities and other governments.
The Qualcomm approach with Infinite will rely on offering companies and governments disparate systems of sensors and networks that are platform agnostic with a unified management view of an end-to-end IoT platform that is coupled with analytics and AI, officials from the companies said.
“Multiple companies have tried this before and failed,” said Sanjeet Pandit, head of Qualcomm’s smart cities initiative in an interview with FierceElectronics. “We will have Wi-Fi and Bluetooth and cellular with 5G coupled with hardware and security and experience. Previous attempts have been Huawei-ized or IBM-ized but ours is open and platform agnostic.”
Infinite will bring its Zyter SmartSpaces software for integration of disparate IoT elements, said Sanjay Govil, chairman of Infinite. The work with Qualcomm will be Infinite’s entry into IoT, but the company has been active with healthcare, events and defense customers for three years. Working with Qualcomm “will be right in our sweet spot for how to connect disparate systems for a unified view,” he said.
The system will be able to ingest data from legacy or new sensors or cameras to interpret data, Pandit added. “This approach reduces fragmentation and the reduces the cost to be paid by customers across multiple verticals,” he said.
On June 9, Qualcomm announced a separate collaboration with JLC Infrastructure and IGNITE Cities to develop smart and connected tech.
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