CTO Straight Talk - Issue 4 - 18

in the expansion of edge computing. If

developers to deliver highly personalized

telecoms place more compute power at

and localized apps from the edge to end

the edge, they could disrupt the mobile

users' mobile phones, regardless of OS,

phone industry by allowing users to do

telco provider, or country.

more with their current smartphones
instead of requiring them to upgrade

" It could be an app that helps customers

to new phones with more powerful

know where the best hamburger is

processors to take advantage of new

wherever they happen to be, " says

mobile apps.

Thiele. " It could be one that allows
you to keep track of your family when

It is even conceivable that the

they're scattered across a new town that

smartphone as we now know it will

you're exploring. It's not that any one of

become obsolete. Thiele, the Edgevana

these activities will always need real-

CEO, foresees moving applications from

time access, but real-time access will

our phones to hyperlocal cloudlets.

make that experience deeper and more

With no need for microcomputers in

involved. "

our pockets, he says, we would carry
inexpensive, easily replaceable glass

Critically, he adds, these apps will all

or ﬂexible plastic displays that need

use edge computing to process and

only enough computing power to send

deliver data that's only useful in the

and receive data to micro data centers

moment. Because the data is processed,

installed almost everywhere.

transmitted to the end user, and then
discarded without having to travel to and

That vision of an edge computing future

from the larger cloud, edge computing

will require the creation of a vast edge

will increase available bandwidth and

infrastructure. A company like Triﬁro's

lower latency on the Internet by keeping

Vapor IO plans to build micro data

large amounts of data off the wider

centers in 30 cities around the world,

network and out of needless storage.

where companies will be able to lease
space and compute cycles in a Tier 2

" Edge computing will let us transform

setting.

business from being focused on growth
to being focused on optimization,

These micro data centers will have to

efficiency, and cooperation, " says

be not just small and distributed, but

Manuel, the KINIMARA CTO. " We're

optimized for the speciﬁc services they

going to see huge marketplaces for

support. That may lead to multiple edge

connecting this data-crunching capacity

data centers installed in the same place,

on the edge of the network to users,

each one comprising one or two servers

and then for selling and reselling mostly

with multiple virtual machines offering

anonymized data for other purposes.

various services.

This will be the next stage of the digital
transformation of business and society. "

The demand for edge computing
capabilities will lead to a proliferation of
edge service providers offering various
services. Ericsson's Edge Gravity unit
is developing an application delivery
ecosystem that will allow application

18

Fawn Fitter writes frequently about
the intersection of business and
technology. She lives and works in
San Francisco.
CTO Straight Talk - Issue 4

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of CTO Straight Talk - Issue 4
