Creating Collaborations With Potential: Unlocking Innovation Together With Startups

Innovation requires several components: Big ideas, the technology to power them, and the right people working together to see the vision through. Startups are synonymous with innovation, which is why AT&T has always championed and sought out working with them in order to push what’s possible to innovate how we live, work and play.

Because in today’s world, there’s another element for innovation that isn’t a nice-to-have, but a mandatory for true innovation to take place: Connectivity. No matter the industry, no matter the technology – it’s connectivity that will help enable the next wave of massive leaps in technological advances. And just like how many startups led the way in building the new experiences and services using 4G LTE that are now a part of our everyday lives, the next wave of innovation will rely on fiber, 5G and edge compute technologies.

Take, for example, our work with Boddle, which came to be through our startup-centric collaborations back in 2019 and has since evolved into AT&T's Connected Learning initiative. As a gaming and education startup, Boddle shares the common goal of bridging the digital divide while also creating new, immersive ways for kids to learn. When the pandemic created a new demand for remote and online learning platforms, Boddle was there to help children not only learn, but stay interested through their interactive and multi-player gaming thanks to AT&T's 5G and connectivity.

“Connectivity really is what allows companies like Boddle to do what we do,” Edna Martinson, Boddle co-founder, said earlier this year. “Students being able to connect to interactive education content from anywhere has proven to be huge [during the pandemic]. For us, 5G is really helping us improve and gamify our educational experience, and truly develop a platform that can enhance a child’s learning experience.”

Going from the world of schools to the world of sports, our collaboration with Nexus Studios meant creating a whole new way for fans of today – and tomorrow – to experience their favorite WNBA teams. As the Official 5G Innovation Partner of the WNBA, AT&T teamed up with Nexus to build and recently upgrade AT&T 5G Game View, which uses augmented reality to let fans see game and player stats during live games, watch customizable clips and access real-time 3D stats. This technology can revolutionize the way fans interact with the sport they love, creating a deeper, richer sports-watching experience.

Colin Davis, head of digital production & executive producer at Nexus Studios, says that the boundary-pushing company is “thrilled to continue to work closely with AT&T on elevating the sports experience through next-generation augmented reality, bringing all new visualizations to life.”

And finding ways to work with businesses of all sizes across communities can come in other ways. As we work with JBG Smith to build National Landing, Virginia – America’s first true 5G-powered smart city at scale – the idea is that it will be a place for startups, students, innovators and creators of all kinds to come together in one community to push the boundaries of what’s possible with AT&T’s 5G network built right into the infrastructure.

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