Exciting times for transport projects, and for passengers No images? Click here UK5G NewsletterExciting times for transport projects, and for passengers - written by UK5G Advisory Board member, Tim Lane I’ve always been a strong advocate for using connectivity to deliver great outcomes for the railway, so I found the recent WM5G announcement of three rail-themed projects in the £2.4m West Midlands 5G transport trials very reassuring. Hot on the heels of these awards, comes a second funding round focussed on finding practical demonstrator projects to improve road and rail operational efficiency, providing better-connected transport or improving the experience for travellers. I know the value of getting technology into the hands of users (allowing them to see the potential value and feedback meaning you can make it even better), and this funding round seems a great opportunity for industry and for the people of the West Midlands. One use-case in particular, caught my eye; Public transport recovery and traveller confidence post COVID. The rail industry has rapidly evolved its offering to best serve both the needs and safety of key workers in ever-changing circumstances. Although a return to pre-COVID passenger numbers seems unlikely in the near-term, industry must continue planning for how passenger journeys may need to change over the coming months. For example, cities like Birmingham are likely to remain different to their pre-pandemic state, as will passengers’ experience. The funding call from WM5G has the potential to drive change in the use of both data and mobile connectivity to deliver for travellers. For the foreseeable future, change is likely to be the new routine. Many more public transport users, less able to rely-on learned work-arounds for travel challenges, will need the best of 5G, artificial intelligence and machine learning, to keep them safe and moving. If you’ve got the start of an idea, there will be other UK5G members keen to work with you to develop it into a bid. WM5G are also offering useful consultation sessions to test that emerging proposals have strong alignment and a better chance of success. Please think wide and novel to get the best for rail, for passengers and for freight users. If I can help with comments and guidance, I’m here for you, as are my rail industry colleagues. All best, Tim Lane Creating a Digital Nation: 2020 Digital Transformation campaign in The Guardian"The next five years will be a significant time for the UK. Let’s hope we can navigate the way to becoming a global leader." – Paul Wilson, Senior Adviser UK5GWe recently worked with Mediaplanet on their 2020 Digital Transformation campaign – published in the The Guardian newspaper last week. The campaign featured exclusive content from key thought leaders and industry voices, such as Amazon AWS, Microsoft, the CBI and The Birchman Group among others, about digital transformation initiatives in the new normal. Additional topics included digital transformation in the public sector, cloud telephony technology, digital collaboration, innovating and up-skilling, acceleration of digital adoption and more. Future of 5G Report in The Times RaconteurRaconteur's Future of 5G special report, published in The Times, explores how 5G could help kickstart the economy post-pandemic, the politicisation of 5G, the forced removal of Huawei, and more. Key articles include:
A detailed infographic has been created to look at a 5G world including more than 400 operators, and highlighting which countries are leading the way. Click below to see the infographic in detail (and download) and take a look at the full Raconteur Future of 5G report below £4m Scottish investment to launch 5G innovation hubsThe Scotland 5G Centre (S5GC) has launched its S5GConnect Programme, aiming to bridge the gap between academia, industry and government bodies, enabling Scottish businesses, organisations and people to reap the benefits that 5G brings. The S5GC programme aims to build on Scotland’s existing Innovation Centres and government initiatives to accelerate the post pandemic recovery and address the key digital gap identified by research. There will be a network of regional S5GConnect Hubs across Scotland as part of the Programme for Government, promoting innovation and investment, focussing on sectors relevant to their local areas. The Hubs will work with mobile operators and private network providers to accelerate regional 5G networks, offer a private network with advanced capabilities, as well as access to an accelerator facility and mentoring schemes. Recent activity on UK5GRecent News:West Midlands' revolutionary new transport projects (read here) 5G RuralDorset - introducing project partner Excelerate (read here) The final report from the AutoAir Consortium (read here) Ex-BT boss leads task force to attract new vendors to UK telecoms (read here) GSMA announces date changes for its MWC21 series (read here) Upcoming Events:Hard Talk - a series of live industry debates | TM Forum (more info) 1st Oct - The Evolution of Smart Cities to Smart Communities and the Role of 5G | Juliet Media (more info) 1st Oct - 5prinG - Q&A Ask Me Anything 5G Transport | Wayra (more info) 5th - 9th Oct - NVIDIA's GPU Technology Conference (GTC) (more info) 7th Oct - to 12th Nov - Digital Transformation World Series | TM Forum While coronavirus means we can’t meet physically for DTW in 2020, we have reimagined everything you know and love about Digital Transformation World to take it to a fully digital series of engaging content that will help you connect, collaborate and co-create more than ever before. 5G RuralDorset last week visited communications technology partner Excelerate at its Cardiff HQ to catch up on progress with this exciting Government-funded project. Pictured: Dave Happy and Gary Littledyke from the team The 5GEM UK project looks at how 5G can improve the manufacture of electric vehicles Liverpool 5G digital network bridges health gap during COVID-19. Article by Rosemary Kay, Project Director, Liverpool 5G Testbed. |