Making abstract technology tangible 
with Nokia

As one of the world’s leading network technology providers, Nokia runs its own research and development on new technologies. Often these deep technologies are inherently complex, intangible and hard to communicate — as is the case with 5G.

Nokia knew the myriad possibilities posed an interesting challenge: How to identify and realise the most fruitful first uses for this powerful technology, that also connected on Nokia’s corporate strategy in mid term?

To answer this question, we conducted qualitative foresight research on future opportunities and white spots at the market. As the result of our strategic foresight and facilitation, Nokia was able to transform an initial idea into an advanced proof of concept: Together, we built an ecosystem to battle the effects of climate change close to home — on the Baltic sea, by cross-industry partnerships with Telia, Vaisala and SYKE (Finnish Environmental Centre).

In the pilot we used Nokia’s industrial drone technology to transfer real-time video of Baltic sea over 5G to analyse the  blue algae buildup on the sea surface. Vaisala’s computer vision algorithm enabled us to analyse the footage in real time, and alert officials and researchers in case any anomalies were detected. Later, Eagle Eyes 5G was presented as one of the leading concepts on Nokia's commitment on building a cleaner world and shown on stage at Madrid Climate Convention.

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