Ready to create
the digital future?
Explore three building blocks for 2024

2ContentsForeword

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Foreword

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New and advanced applications
Holographic communications
Digital twins
Gamified future

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A new realm for ways of working
Indoor connectivity
Industry 5.0
Autonomous transport

11Pioneering solutions fora more sustainable world
Zero-energy devices
Energy sharing

14–15
Final thoughts

Over the past 10 years, we have lived
through an extraordinary digital revolution.
The smartphone made information
accessible anywhere, at any time. This
created the app economy, which enabledtransformative consumer-based services
and business models.
But, this is only the beginning. In the coming
5 to 10 years, we’ll see an acceleration ofmajor global trends such as the further
electrification of transportation systems,
the pursuit of Net Zero emissions, theconstruction of more resilient supply chains
and an embrace of industrial automation
to increase efficiency and productivity.
These trends span across businesses andsociety, and they are key to government
agendas on topics like greater inclusivity,
addressing climate change and developing
more competitive economies. They arealso driving enterprises to look beyond thefront end to digitalize their entire operation.

What will it take tocreate this future?
We see three building blocks:
high-performing mobile networks,
artificial intelligence (AI) and the cloud.
Within these three, high-performing
networks are the foundation, as without
wireless connectivity, the other two
technologies cannot be deployed at scale.
These networks will be available
everywhere and easily accessible fora broad ecosystem of businesses anddevelopers to build on.
Now, let’s explore three areas where
this future is already becoming reality.

New and advanced applications

New and advanced
applications
So, what comes after the smartphone?
Extended reality (XR) devices – which include
augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR)devices – are set to connect the digital andphysical worlds in real time.

These devices will provide a paradigm shift based on digital
representation and immersive communication, meaning wewill soon be able to explore mixed-reality environments,
limited only by our own imagination.

Applications and services:

Holographiccommunications

Digitaltwins

Gamifiedfuture3

New and advanced applications

Holographiccommunications
By 2030, AR will become a mainstream, all-day experience,and virtual meetings will feel as if every attendee is in thesame place, even for those who are on the go. To go truly
mobile with attractive devices and advanced experiences,
XR devices and applications will rely on network capabilities
such as distributed edge cloud computing. By providing
low-latency resilient networks, the remote control ofoperations and more human-centric capabilities will

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become a reality. On the consumer side, new gaming
and learning possibilities will be opened up.
Using the latest in spatial computing and positioning,holograms will have a complete awareness of environments
and react to physical objects within them, making theholograms more fluid to give a true sense of presence
and intimacy within the physical world.

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New and advanced applications

Digitaltwins

Digital twins are a prime example of what
digital representation will enable. Withinthese virtual replicas, you’ll be able to create
simulations of almost anything to conduct
testing and experimentation without risk ordisruption. For example, an engineer wanting
to test a new feature on an existing machine

won’t have to stop production (or even leavetheir desk!) due to AI processing and analyzing
data being fed into a virtual replica.

Discover more5

New and advanced applications

GamifiedfutureGaming will become more prevalent by improving theway we absorb information across various industries
and settings. At an automotive factory, workers mightlearn the working parts of a car from a digital twinin the form of a game, allowing consequence-freemistakes to be made, as well as progression-based
research and development.
At school, students will be able to explore far-off
places with each other in a gamified way using ARand AI technology. With rich, interactive experiences
like this, it will be possible to improve student
engagement in a world where attention spans
are increasingly hard to hold.

Learn more6A new realm for ways of working

A new realm forways of working
The demand for new services and applications
is accelerating toward an open global network
platform that is flexible and scalable.

Enterprises of all sizes have already largely moved from data
centers to cloud, with applications on demand rather than on
premises. The same will happen for networking. High-performing
networks will be combined with cloud services for a more secure,convenient, and cost-efficient IT and communications infrastructure.

Applications and services:

Indoorconnectivity

Industry
5.0

Autonomoustransportation

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A new realm for ways of working

Indoorconnectivity

By 2030, many industry processes will have aflexible hybrid work model, with workers being
able to operate from anywhere in the world
through a shared network environment,
without limitations to software or connection.

But in order to achieve this, improved indoor
connectivity is a crucial component of providing
ubiquitous access to services and applications.
Furthermore, it’s imperative to ensure access toapplications and services through secure networks.

Find out more8

A new realm for ways of working

Industry
5.0

Warehouses and production fleets will
become entirely autonomous. AI and robotics
will execute physical tasks, reducing injury risk
and enabling effective collaboration between
workers and robotics through voice and gestures.
This way, workers can focus on other tasks,
putting human centricity at the forefront.

This will allow for quicker decision-making by workers,
as well as leaving dangerous jobs to the robots,
keeping the safety of human operators a top priority.

Explore more9A new realm for ways of working

Autonomoustransportation
In order for completely autonomous transportation to become part of dailyliving, high-performing networks will be required to manage connectivity
at scale. Security across digital platforms will need to be considered as
network management systems evolve to accommodate the acceleratingneeds on the network, and to simplify the introduction of applications.

Read more

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Pioneering solutions for a more sustainable world

Pioneering solutions fora more sustainable world
Given the scale of the challenges the world faces
and the exponential technologies at our fingertips,
sustainability remains a critical priority, with mostcompanies and governments aiming to achieve
Net Zero in the coming decade.

Applications and services:Zero-energy
devices

Energysharing

By electrifying production fleets and reducing energy consumption,
smart grids could generate net annual emission reductions of
0.7-2.1 gigatons of carbon dioxide by 2050, according to theInternational Energy Agency.

11Pioneering solutions for a more sustainable world

Zero-energy
devicesZero-energy devices – which are devices that do not require batteries
or manual charging – can harvest energy from the environment aroundthem, from the vibration of train tracks to harnessing solar energy withphotovoltaic systems. Together, with the help of AI, zero-energy devices canimprove productivity, minimize the use of chemicals (in battery production,for example) and reduce waste.

Read more12

Pioneering solutions for a more sustainable world

Energysharing
As individuals and communities, we will nolonger simply consume energy but createand share it too. By decentralizing the power
grid and connecting it with a single andintelligent communications network, we cantransform the existing power setup to support
a digital revolution. This means we willsustain ourselves through any form of power
disruption, such as extreme weather interferingwith the power infrastructure or unpredictabledemand and generation causing blackouts.

Read more13

Final thoughts

Finalthoughts

In Erik Ekudden’s (Ericsson CTO) Tech Trends for 2023,
he wrote that “making this future a reality can’t bedone alone.” It requires ubiquitous, high-performanceand differentiated networks, with capabilities thatare accessible to a broad ecosystem of businesses
and developers.
At Ericsson, we also envision the creation of a global network platform thatwill require cross-industry collaboration to form an open network ecosystemof applications developers and enterprises.
Ekudden wrote that the network platform “is a cornerstone of a future worldthat is distance-free: a place where the physical and digital worlds coexist
seamlessly and where both humans and machines can connect, collaborate
and engage with each other regardless of their geographical locations.”

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Final thoughts“Our vision for the future is aconnected and sustainablephysical world that is both
digitalized and programmable,
where humans are supported
by digital intelligence andimmersive experiences.”
Erik Ekudden
Ericsson Chief Technology Officer

What do you imagine is possible for the future with connectivity?

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About Ericsson
Ericsson enables communications service providers and enterprises to capture
the full value of connectivity. The company’s portfolio spans the following
business areas: Networks, Cloud Software and Services, Enterprise WirelessSolutions, Global Communications Platform, and Technologies and New
Businesses. It is designed to help our customers go digital, increase efficiency
and find new revenue streams. Ericsson’s innovation investments have delivered
the benefits of mobility and mobile broadband to billions of people globally.
Ericsson stock is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm and on Nasdaq New York.
www.ericsson.com

EricssonSE-164 80 Stockholm, Sweden
Telephone +46 10 719 0000
www.ericsson.com

The content of this document is subject
to revision without notice due tocontinued progress in methodology,
design and manufacturing. Ericssonshall have no liability for any error ordamage of any kind resulting from theuse of this document

GFMC-23:000521 Uen© Ericsson 2023