Vodafone is also an active member of LF Edge’s parent body the Linux Foundation

LF Edge, an umbrella organization within the Linux Foundation, announced that Vodafone has joined the project as a new member, the former said in a release.

Additional members of LF Edge include AMD, American Tower, Arm, AT&T, Baidu, Charter Communications, Dell Technologies, F5, Fujitsu, HP, Huawei, Intel, IBM, NTT, Radisys, RedHat, Samsung, Tencent, VMware and Western Digital.

The new membership will allow Vodafone to leverage the collective capabilities of open source edge computing to develop advanced networks designed for applications that require low latency and high reliability, such as 5G, IoT, augmented and virtual reality and autonomous vehicles.

“Vodafone’s active participation will propel our efforts to develop more robust and interoperable edge computing frameworks, particularly enhancing 5G and Mobile Private Network connectivity. Their involvement ensures these technologies are tailored to meet the evolving demands of diverse industries,” said Arpit Joshipura, general manager of networking, edge and IoT at the Linux Foundation.

Justin Shields, CTO at Vodafone Business, noted that as premier member of LF Edge, Vodafone can bring its own source coding credentials in edge computing to a leading developer community so that it can benefit many more organizations and individuals. “Partnering with other companies and developers is the key to unlocking opportunities in edge computing to support ultra-low latency applications that will drive forward the industrial internet,” Shields said.

Vodafone also said it is also an active member of LF Edge’s parent body the Linux Foundation, which provides a neutral hub for nearly 780,000 developers and thousands of organizations to code, manage and scale open technology projects and ecosystems.

In a separate release, The U.K. carrier said its participation is backed by its new project for LF Edge, called InstantX, which offers many potential applications to boost the industrial internet.

Vodafone highlighted that the industrial internet will be enabled by programmable 5G standalone networks, edge computing and open APIs. Connecting machines and applications with cloud-based AI powered services will become as commonplace as communicating via social media platforms, the telco said, adding that InstantX is key to this vision as it is designed to ensure the secure and reliable exchange and distribution of data in real-time between users in a certain geography. It uses ‘far-edge’ or ‘industrial-edge’ computing power which works by locating smaller, industrial servers outside a main data center but closer to users, the operator said.

Vodafone said it has developed several applications under InstantX. For example, Vodafone has already successfully tested improved road safety systems in several European countries. This allows pedestrians, cyclists and motorists plus their vehicles to share vital information with each other such as hazard warnings and difficult road conditions.

Other potential uses include the coordination and control of autonomous robots in smart factories to avoid collisions with other machines and people. It can also help to track, monitor and control beyond-the-line-of-sight drones carrying vital supplies, the U.K. carrier said.