Red Hat and Panasonic Connect are bringing open-source edge computing to rugged TOUGHBOOK devices, enabling secure real-time processing, industrial automation and defence operations through MicroShift-powered Kubernetes infrastructure.
Red Hat and Panasonic Connect have announced a global collaboration to deploy enterprise open-source edge computing capabilities on Panasonic TOUGHBOOK rugged laptops and tablets for defence, industrial and mission-critical environments.
The partnership will see Panasonic Connect preload Red Hat Device Edge on TOUGHBOOK devices, creating an out-of-the-box platform for autonomous operations, real-time data processing, industrial automation and smart manufacturing applications. The solution is now generally available.
At the core of the collaboration is Red Hat Device Edge, which combines MicroShift — a Red Hat-led open-source community project — with lightweight Kubernetes capabilities derived from Red Hat OpenShift, alongside Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform.
The companies said the platform is designed for government, defence and manufacturing sectors operating in disconnected or remote environments requiring secure and resilient edge infrastructure.
“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, Industrial Business, Red Hat.
Koji Higashitani, Senior Manager, Mobile Solutions Business Division, Panasonic Connect, said the collaboration enables secure edge computing with “enhanced flexibility and sustained uptime in even the most extreme conditions.”
