Originally published by Ericsson

Before jumping into the new year and the many opportunities it will send your way, join us on a stroll down memory lane as we revisit our top ten blog posts of the year.

For most, 2022 was the year we started to really settle into our new normal: a place that slightly resembled the past, was a bit less intimidating, and gave us the feeling that we were finally back in the driver’s seat. We started to see which pandemic-inspired trends are here to stay (so far, the top two are hybrid working and cooking from home), and which ones were short lived (who can forget the toilet paper hoarding and the large-scale migration to smaller towns at the beginning of the pandemic?).

A 30,000-year-old baby woolly mammoth was discovered in Canada, we celebrated the life of the UK’s longest reigning monarch, and watched in fascination as NASA sent Artemis 1 into space, the most powerful rocket ever launched into orbit. Then, of course, 2022 also brought darker moments from the outbreak of the tragic conflict in Ukraine to a sliding global economy.

It’s been a busy year and, as we go into the last few weeks of 2022, we always like to press the pause button, take a much-needed deep breath, and reflect on the year that was. After all, we can’t shift our focus to the future without glancing back at the past. Here’s a collection of our top 10 Ericsson blog posts of the year.

The future of sports

From winter sports to summer athletics, and a cricket frenzy to a football finale, 2022 was a big year for many sports fans. And oh how our world of sports has changed with the help of technology. We’re seeing state-of-the-art sensors built into soccer balls that relay its position 500 times a second, big data insights transforming how players improve their performance, and blockchain being harnessed to increase fan engagement.

At the heart of it all, the powerful enabler that makes it all possible? 5G of course.

So where to from here? As far as our imaginations can take us it would seem. With smart stadiums, real-time personalized views of the action at live games and the ability to welcome players into our homes through virtual and augmented reality, Bachman-Turner Overdrive’s catchy tune summarizes it best: you ain’t seen nothing yet.

Explore the posts: Are use places the new use cases? The opportunities of smart stadiums and The future of sports: how 5G will transform the sports experience.

AI and 5G: The happily-ever-after continues

5G was never just another G. It was a gamechanger, a complete ecosystem change in the way networks are run and managed. Due to its potential, expectations are high, from performance and low latency to throughput and availability. It’s a tall order, one that calls for an equally powerful sidekick which, in 5G’s case, is AI.

In 2022, we continued to see this happily-ever-after relationship develop, from building future societies to simplifying the complexity that often comes with 5G. And the power couple is just getting started: as network slicing and intent-based operations are added to the mix, more advanced techniques will continue to develop in answer to our increasingly complex future.

Explore the posts: Can we use AI to build our future society? and What is the relationship between AI and 5G?

Tackling the climate challenge: Ericsson to become Net Zero by 2040

We only need to look at 2022’s headlines to know that our window of time to secure a livable planet and sustainable future is rapidly shrinking. Net Zero on a global scale is now critical and calls for a collective societal effort, a series of butterfly effects where no act will be too small.

The ICT industry has a central role to play: firstly by rapidly decarbonizing as a sector, and secondly by empowering other sectors to achieve their own Net Zero futures through technological innovations and collaboration. Ericsson’s own pathway to becoming Net Zero across its full value chain by 2040 has revealed valuable learnings as we work towards a sustainable future for all.

Explore the post: Net Zero: what does it mean and how do we get there?

Time-to-content: the crux of smartphone user experience (for now)

After I click, how much longer do I have to wait before my video starts playing? Also known as time-to-content, it’s how modern mobile users continue to judge their overall experience. And while latency and peak download speed are two key enablers, variations in their performance are often more noticeable to machines than humans: think video-controlled high-precision robots in smart factories where ultra-low and ultra-reliable latencies are key.

This will, however, not be the case forever. As 5G use cases such as virtual and augmented reality become more mainstream, the users of tomorrow will quickly catch on to the relationship between latency, download speed, and great experiences.

Explore the posts: Who cares about latency in 5G?, Who cares about peak download speeds in 5G? and The power of 5G Carrier Aggregation.

Shrinking the digital divide

Digitalization continued to transform in 2022 as a global engine of sustainable economic growth, fundamental lever in fighting climate change, and powerful enabler of social inclusion. Universal connectivity and extending digital to especially small enterprises are high on the agenda, a message that our CEO, Borje Ekholm, highlighted to G20 leaders at this year’s B20 summit in Bali, Indonesia.

As co-chairman of the Digitalization Taskforce within the group (B20) for the past three years, he explores concrete recommendations, policy actions, and the immense potential of a universally connected, digitally skilled, and fully empowered global community.

Explore the post: Letter to the G20: We must drive universal connectivity and extend digital to small enterprises, without delay.

XR meets entertainment

Our attitudes toward entertainment have changed drastically in recent years. As our attention spans continue to shrink and our expectations continue to grow, the entertainment industry is in a constant state of evolution and innovation. The pandemic was also an important eye opener to both the possibilities and limitations of a screen-based world.

As a result, we’re seeing the metaverse and immersive media formats as two of today’s biggest game changers. Find out how these two trends will end the era of being sucked into our mobile phones by transforming the online world into a tangible 3D extension of our everyday lives.

Explore the post: The future of XR in the entertainment industry.

The 5G key: Unlocking the metaverse’s full potential

The metaverse has come a long way since its first definition back in 1992. And while today it means different things to different people, most definitions agree on three things: it embraces a social element, has a strong virtual narrative, and is accelerated through novel technologies like AI, blockchain, and digital twins to name a few examples.

At the center of its success is 5G: a critical enabler that will not only facilitate exciting uses like metaverse VR and metaverse XR but also help make Web 3.0 a more imminent reality.

Explore the post: What is the metaverse and why does it need 5G to succeed? The metaverse 5G relationship explained.

From storytelling to story-living

Most of us remember at least one pop-up book from our childhoods: a complex combination of superhuman folding techniques, strategically placed dots of glue, and intricate cut-outs to transform a one-dimensional page into a 3D thing of fascination. Fast forward to 2022 and the world of storytelling is set to become so immersive that it will be difficult to distinguish what is real and what is not.

To keep up with our imaginations we’ll need 5G, Edge and Augmented Reality which, just like the three key ingredients of a classic pop-up-book, will redefine how we tell, experience, and engage with anything from fiction to historical events and every story in between.

Explore the post: Bringing stories to life through immersive AR.

The future of our realities

What does the metaverse mean for humanity? What is the world really creating? And what are the human skills that we’ll need in Web 3.0?

When meeting the grandfather of VR in the metaverse earlier this year, Zeljka Sotra, leader within Ericsson’s Customer Product Information (CPI) department, discovered that it might just expose the very complexity of being human and maybe, just maybe, help us to truly understand one another.

Explore the post: Meeting the grandfather of VR in the metaverse.

Closing off with a futuristic 6G sneak peek

Our 2022 roundup wouldn’t be complete without a peek into the future. From the Internet of Senses and Connected Intelligent Machines to Programmable Physical Worlds and a Connected Sustainable World, 6G will empower us to Imagine a whole new world of Possible. Find out what the bright future of connectivity can look like, and what challenges our industry will face along the journey.

Explore the post: The 6G series: Why it’s a great time to start talking 6G.

And with that, fellow readers, we sign off for the year to recharge, reinvigorate, and refresh so that we can continue to Imagine Possible in 2023 and beyond. We look forward to another busy year, filled with exciting innovations, developments, and insights. Make sure you never miss out by subscribing to the Ericsson Blog.

Ericsson

Ericsson

Ericsson is one of the leading providers of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to service providers. We enable the full value of connectivity by creating game-changing technology and services that are easy to use, adopt, and scale, making our customers successful in a fully connected world.

Our comprehensive portfolio ranges across Networks, Digital Services, Managed Services and Emerging Business; powered by 5G and IoT platforms.

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