Explain MEC like I’m a 7-year-old.

Even for a tech-savvy millennial like me, some concepts can be confusing. I find the easiest way to learn -- or teach -- is to break things down into simple terms, as if talking to a child.

So who better to teach me about MEC than a 7-year-old?

Ava Carnes, daughter of V Teamer Lauren Schulz, described MEC in terms I could understand: Ice cream.

If you live in the suburbs and want to go for a treat, you wouldn’t drive all the way to the big city; you’d go to your local shop.

In the same way, imagine you live in a smart home and you give a command to your lamp. Currently, that data needs to be transmitted to cloud servers that may be hundreds of miles away, analyzed and then a command is sent back to the lamp to switch on.

But with Mobile Edge Computing (MEC), the command only has to travel to a “mini cloud” that exists in your own neighborhood. By performing processing tasks closer to you, the end user, it improves the performance of applications and our network. The result? An Internet of Things (IoT) that will be smarter, faster, more responsive and more efficient than ever before.

To learn more about the power of MEC, watch the VTalk with Kyle Malady, Srini Kalapala and Valerie Feldmann and another on MEC strategy and partnerships.

Thanks, Ava! You made us all a little smarter. Now, can you help me with my taxes?

Tell us what you think of Up To Speed.

V Teamers, click here to return to VZWeb.