Series 8 – Episode 1 – 5G and the IoT for smart buildings

Thomas has been in the UK for over 20 years, working in the ICT industry for both large companies and start-ups. Recently, he has been more involved in 5G with emerging technologies.

Thomas explains that with 5G, traditionally, we’re thinking about end-user public network connectivity and even with the IoT, we think about manufacturing and very futuristic scenarios where everything in a factory is connected via 5G. Thomas said: “For me, having been working with big telecom operators and vendors, and from an Industrial Internet of Things perspective, I can see that it goes much beyond those use cases.”

Thomas also speaks about 5G Open RAN and the benefits it brings to smart buildings and integrators. Landlords and building management companies are faced with new challenges to optimise building usage, as well as energy costs and, most importantly, carbon footprint. Thomas believes that smart buildings IoT can help solve this, “From our work with the SmartServer IoT and system integrators, we have seen a third in reduction of energy and maintenance costs, through installing smart analytics building management systems, gateway controllers and sensors.”

Thomas also goes on to talk about the economic and social disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the effect it will have on the way IoT will be used in smart environments, as well as how smart cities and buildings can help to build a more sustainable world.

To hear more about 5G, the IoT and much more, you can listen to Electronic Specifier’s interview with Thomas Gere on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.