Faces of 5G showcases American entrepreneurs innovating with wireless technologies and how they are pioneering new businesses, transforming their communities, and empowering women, children, and minorities. The project is led by Matt Weinberg, a Boston-born economic development advocate and principal at Max Ventures, an early-stage venture capital fund in New York City. His stints at the New York City Economic Development Corporation and Small Business Administration’s Office of Investment and Innovation gave him the eye to spot entrepreneurs and compelling opportunities for public-private partnerships. I caught up with Matt while he was crisscrossing the country to catalogue these exciting developments. He describes how 5G effectively “widens the pipes” of communications infrastructure, making autonomous vehicles, zero latency mixed reality, instantaneous large-scale data analysis, and ubiquitous IoT connection possible.

In New York, Clayton Banks, CEO of Silicon Harlem, a tech innovation and literacy hub, is working with universities to support digital inclusion. Alice Formwalt and Oliver Noteware of Street Smarts VR are training first responders and law enforcement officers for the field with mixed reality scenarios and preparing these professionals for an environment of better communication and connectivity to improve response time and public safety outcomes. Former MoMA curator Elizabeth Reede founded Boulevard to deliver arts and culture to the public through cutting edge VR, AR, and mixed reality technology.