Red Hat and Panasonic Connect announce edge computing partnership

By preloading Red Hat Device Edge on Panasonic TOUGHBOOK devices, Panasonic Connect delivers a unified platform for out-of-the-box real-time data processing, supporting industrial automation, smart manufacturing and defence sector capabilities. 

Panasonic TOUGHBOOK, paired with Red Hat Device Edge, are a line of rugged laptops and tablets optimised for specialised edge computing and designed to address rigorous security and compliance requirements, spanning use cases across government, defence sectors and manufacturing. Red Hat Device Edge combines an enterprise-ready and supported distribution of the Red Hat-led open source community project MicroShift, a lightweight Kubernetes distribution derived from the edge capabilities of Red Hat OpenShift, along with Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform.

"With this collaboration, Red Hat is helping Panasonic Connect transform beyond traditional rugged compute devices to intelligent, self-sufficient nodes that thrive in the most challenging and remote environments," said Kelly Switt, senior director of Industrial Business at Red Hat. "Powered by Red Hat Device Edge, Panasonic TOUGHBOOKs provide the hardened foundation required for mobile command and control, tactical communication, drone control, real-time intelligence gathering and secure data processing in even the harshest conditions, delivering results where they matter most."

Using Red Hat Device Edge, Panasonic TOUGHBOOK devices can offer:

• Faster, simplified deployment: An out-of-the-box, pre-tested solution to speed time-to-value while helping to address mission-critical security requirements. 
• Enhanced flexibility and customisation: Red Hat Device Edge delivers a reliable, Linux-based footprint to support demanding edge workloads.
• Operational resilience in extreme conditions: The combined physical durability of Panasonic TOUGHBOOK devices with the built-in security capabilities of Red Hat Device Edge offers reliability in disconnected or remote environments. 

Organisations will have the flexibility to select the level of Red Hat Device Edge support needed for their specific operational requirements. Red Hat Device Edge on Panasonic TOUGHBOOK devices is now generally available.

"Our collaboration with Red Hat enables us to deliver additional options for secure edge computing solutions out-of-the-box. This empowers our customers across government, defence sectors and manufacturing to achieve real-time data processing and industrial automation with enhanced flexibility and sustained uptime in even the most extreme conditions," stated Koji Higashitani, senior manager, Mobile Solutions Business Division at Panasonic Connect. 

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