Oracle Opens Innovation Lab in Chicago Market

DEERFIELD, Ill. — Oracle is introducing a hands-on innovation lab near Chicago for its customers.

Oracle opened the doors to its 30,000-square-foot Oracle Industry Lab in Deerfield, Illinois, according to the company this month. 

The lab is intended to give customers an environment to develop ideas and create industry-specific solutions with technology from Oracle and over 30 partners. 

It is supported by Verizon 5G Ultra Wideband.

Oracle Industry Lab will first focus on several industries: utilities; construction and engineering; communications; and manufacturing. 

Later this year, Oracle plans to open a lab focused on sustainability and mobility in Reading, England and a lab focused on construction in Sydney, Australia.

“The core technology used in the world’s most essential industries doesn’t run in an office, it runs on a construction site, in the utility operations center, on the manufacturing floor,” said Mike Sicilia, EVP of vertical industries, Oracle.

“So why not let customers develop, test, and validate technology in similar environments? The lab brings these scenarios to life, so that collectively, customers, partners, and Oracle can create solutions to fuel opportunity and solve the really tough problems these industries are facing.”

John Jurewicz, senior director of technology at Walbridge, said the company sees “huge value” in the lab, where it can “test and validate new technologies in a simulated worksite environment.”

“Once we prove the value and approach, it’s much easier to take them out to our own worksites and quickly scale them up,” Jurewicz said.

Oracle Industry Lab focus areas

Utilities

With simulated environments, including a connected neighborhood and smart studio apartment, customers can experiment with several technologies: sensors to help relieve stress on the electric grid; drones and augmented reality (AR) to improve safety and efficiency in field work; and artificial intelligence (AI) and behavioral science to guide households to be more energy efficient. 

Partners: Copper Labs; EDX Technologies; Constellation Clearsight; Micatu; and Samsung SmartThings. 

Communications

Customers can experiment with how cloud-native communications technologies enable automation and scaling to meet the growth of 5G subscribers and connected devices as well as demand for rapid service. They can also explore how service providers can partner with other industries to co-create business-to-business-to-X (B2B2X) offers and business models. 

Partners: EDX Technologies; ESRI; and Verizon.

Construction and engineering

Oracle and partners will explore a connected ecosystem using technologies such as visual progress monitoring, sensor-based tracking, digital twins, autonomous laser scanning, AR, and the Internet of Things (IoT). Customers can test and validate solutions to inform predictive decision-making, reduce inefficiency, mitigate risk, and create better outcomes.

Partners: CAXperts; ESRI; FARO Technologies; Hilti; Intelliwave Technologies; Milwaukee Tool; Newmetrix; OpenSpace; Reconstruct; Skydio; Triax Technologies; VREX; and WakeCap Technologies.

Manufacturing

Customers can experiment with technologies — such as IoT, AI, AR, digital twins, predictive analytics, and factory automation — to demonstrate their impact on efficiency, quality control, customer satisfaction, and sustainability. 

Partners: Anark; DiCentral; Festo; KanbanBox; Mitsubishi Electric Automation; Omron; RFSmart; Skydio; and Taqtile.