Jo Gilbert

The GSMA aims to tackle today’s biggest industry and societal challenges, underpinning the technology and interoperability that make mobile technology work. In sectors like manufacturing and production, the GSMA unites industries within the connectivity ecosystem to advance innovation and deliver a positive impact.

As the Technical Director and Connected Manufacturing & Production Lead at the GSMA, Jo Gilbert works closely with her team to bring together leading operators, industrial enterprises and the broader global ecosystem. The goal is to maximise the benefits of mobile technologies for the manufacturing and industrial sectors. Most recently, Jo and her team have welcomed industry experts from the manufacturing and telecommunications sectors to the GSMA’s flagship MWC events, discussing the adoption of 5G technologies, fostering collaboration and innovation.

Tell us about your role at the GSMA. 

I joined the GSMA in 2012 after a Product Management role with Vodafone and EE and have since led numerous projects across the mobile ecosystem. My work has involved bringing together network operators, business enterprises, governments, NGOs and academic institutions worldwide to develop data-driven solutions leveraging new and emerging technologies, including big data, IoT and identity services.

I’m excited to say that our next Connected Manufacturing and Production forum meeting will be held in London on the 16th and 17th September at the GSMA offices and 5G Verizon Hub. It’s a great place to network with like-minded individuals from across the manufacturing and production sector, whilst hearing from our members on the latest topics and trends from across the industry.

Can you tell us about your memories of your first mobile phone? 

Last year at MWC Barcelona, we had the honour of being joined by Marty Cooper, who made the first mobile phone call, 50 years ago. Seeing him at MWC made me think about the time I got my very first mobile phone. A Grey Nokia 3210, running on the 2G network. It had a black and white screen; no camera or picture messages and I remember that it could only hold a limited number of SMS text messages. It makes you think just how far the industry has continually transformed and evolved in response to the changing world around it.

What challenges does the telecommunications industry currently face? How are you facing these challenges?

With regards to my particular area of expertise within the telecoms sector, there are a variety of challenges that the industry is facing and actively addressing. 

The biggest challenge is the continued rollout of private 5G networks. The transition to private 5G networks involves complex infrastructure upgrades, investment decisions and addressing technical hurdles. While 5G promises huge potential in the form of emerging technologies such as AI and drones, planning and implementing such widespread digital change in a way that will set up a company for continued growth and success, is easier said than done. 

Furthermore, 2021-2022 was a period of many doubts and was marked with delayed availability of many private 5G network features for a variety of sectors. The good news is we are on the way up again, where a variety of industries, such as manufacturing and the public sector, are seeing great levels of private 5G deployment / uptake.

The telecoms industry has a critical role to play in guiding businesses in all sectors through any deployment with a tailor-made solution that’s the best for the organisation.

Tell us about the commercialisation and deployment of 5G.

5G commercialisation continues to gather pace around the world. According to the recent findings in GSMA Mobile Economy 2024 Report, as of January 2024, 261 operators in 101 countries globally had launched commercial 5G mobile services. More markets are expected to follow, with more than 90 operators from 64 markets making a commitment to launch 5G in the coming years. There were 1.6 billion 5G connections at the end of 2023, which will rise to 5.5 billion by 2030.

5G is expected to benefit the global economy by more than US$930bn in 2030 and manufacturing is poised to be the primary industry beneficiary of 5G, accounting for 36% of it. This growth will be particularly significant in developed regions, including Europe, which are expected to see substantial expansion in the next five years.

5G networks will be pivotal in creating the smart factories of the future, enabling applications such as asset tracking, industrial control and product testing. Traditional networks have often struggled to meet the stringent requirements of many industrial facilities. As a result, 5G is currently used to support auxiliary processes in factories. Extending 5G networks to core production will depend on the technology's ability to meet demanding use cases, including high uplink capacity, near-constant availability and metre-level positioning capabilities.

Can you tell us about the deployment of 5G deterministic networks in industrial settings?

Deploying 5G deterministic networks marks a transformative step for industrial enterprises, boosting operational efficiency, enhancing quality and enabling innovative business models. The commercialisation and deployment of 5G are driving this digital transformation, with the technology gradually being integrated into core production areas like asset management, industrial control, and product testing. Traditional networks often fail to meet the growing demands of vertical industries. 

An analysis of key industrial applications highlights five critical parameters for effective networks: latency and reliability, jitter, uplink bandwidth, availability and positioning. Therefore, telecom operators are developing 5G networks with deterministic capabilities to ensure the reliability and predictability needed to support critical manufacturing applications. By utilising varying network resources and technology combinations, deterministic networks are setting the stage for multi-dimensional service level guarantees that meet stringent industrial requirements.

While combining multiple technologies can significantly enhance network performance, it also has its drawbacks. Techniques used to reduce latency or improve reliability often consume radio resources, impacting essential parameters like data rates. To streamline technology combinations in a deterministic network, it's key to prioritise features that are most critical for specific use cases. For example, it is difficult for an industrial network to have a large number of terminals while also achieving low-latency transmission.

Currently, integrating deterministic networks into vertical industries is largely in the exploratory phase with ongoing research. Early deployments have clearly demonstrated that these networks can deliver substantial commercial benefits in critical industrial processes, opening the door to the future digital transformation of wider vertical sectors.

You recently conducted a pilot in China, what did this show you about 5G network utilisations?

The GSMA has launched a series of programmes and initiatives to help the telecom industry and its adjacent ecosystems embrace the power of 5G. One such initiative, the GSMA 5G IN (5G Innovation and Investment Group), is a GSMA Foundry project aimed at fostering the rapidly expanding 5G startup community. Created by GSMA along with 12 co-founding members in China, this project enables the execution of actual pilots.

Initial pilots in manufacturing plants across China have demonstrated the potential of various 5G deterministic technologies working in tandem. 

At a steel manufacturing plant, deterministic networks provided an uplink bandwidth of 586 Mbps and a low latency of 4ms, enabling applications like AI-based quality inspections and the remote control of cranes and AGVs. These capabilities resulted in a 90% defect detection rate, a 92% reduction in production capacity losses and a 65% decrease in the number of on-site personnel working in hazardous areas.

In another example, an automotive manufacturing facility deployed deterministic networks to achieve 99.99% network availability for real-time production monitoring, metre-level positioning for product transport via AGVs, and 250 Mbps uplink bandwidth for automating quality inspections at welding points. These implementations led to a 98% reduction in the production line’s annual downtime.

These deployments clearly illustrate how 5G deterministic networks can provide substantial business benefits in industrial settings.

What do the next 12 months hold for you and the GSMA?

It is no surprise that artificial intelligence has captured public and business attention. As the industrial sector advances toward digital transformation, AI is becoming a key player. In the longer term, the sector will look to implement more complex Gen AI use cases.

AI applications, enabled by strong telecoms networks, in the industrial setting include machine vision for detecting defects and predicting failures to minimise unscheduled downtime, as well as digital twins that simulate and optimise production processes and products throughout their lifecycle. The advent of generative AI and LLMs is poised to drive new productivity gains for the manufacturing workforce. 

However, implementing AI in industrial settings presents challenges such as integrating with existing infrastructure, managing data quality and ensuring reliability, especially where safety is critical. The GSMA will continue to explore solutions and collaborate with partners across the ecosystem to address these challenges.

Our US event, MWC Las Vegas will take place in October, where enterprise IT meets enterprise 5G. I’m really looking forward to a packed agenda with speakers from the enterprise and mobile industries at the event which will be unmissable for the CIO community and broader mobile ecosystem - registration is open!

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