An open day was held in Dundee this week to showcase the power of next generation mobile connectivity.
The Scotland 5G Centre’s hub, based at Abertay cyberQuarter, demonstrated the potential of 5G to revolutionise how we do business, including increasing productivity, reducing downtime and supporting organisations to improve workplace efficiency, security and reliability, through providing accurate real-time data and monitoring.
S5GConnect Dundee, serving Dundee, Perth & Kinross, Angus and Fife, is working with Abertay University and Dundee City Council, to drive growth and increase opportunities for employment and investment in the city and the wider Tay Cities region. The hub also supports research and development on enabling technologies for applications where 5G plays a key role.
At the event, organisations, local authorities and members of the community heard from Kirsty Scott, business engagement manager for S5GConnect Dundee on how the hub can enable digital transformation, providing access to the hub’s dedicated 5G Mobile Private Network, and a range of free services including bespoke advice and access to emerging 5G applications.
Mark Flynn, convener of Dundee City Council’s city development committee outlined the area’s digital vision, including the development of an outdoor testbed at Dundee Central Waterfront, supported by Scottish Government and Scottish Futures Trust through the Dundee Central Waterfront Growth Accelerator and the £2m Tay Cities Deal backed Tay5G project, which will deliver use case trials and a ‘challenge fund’ to support use case trials delivery.
Professor Gregor White, dean of Abertay University’s School of Design and Informatics explained how the Abertay cyberQuarter initiative can help solve global cybersecurity challenges.
And Brad McGuire, director of programme innovation at AWTG spoke about the installation of the 5G testbed and how this will contribute to 5G infrastructure in the region.
Attendees were also invited to participate in live, 5G-enabled demonstrations from University of Glasgow’s communications, sensing and imaging group. Already showing a £29m return of investment on the Scotland 5G Centre’s initial investment of £1.6m, the University of Glasgow’s projects offer sustainable smart solutions, paving the way for the development of urban innovation districts in the future.
Some of the capabilities of 5G technology include:
- Monitoring energy usage and encouraging smarter ways of working by integrating devices to smart grids for real-time monitoring and forecasting of future energy needs
- Supporting a wide range of sectors to reduce costs and training times by providing more immersive and engaging content to employees.
- Creating fully immersive solutions to remove the barrier to physical participation in culture, heritage and tourism attractions for domestic and international audiences to drive significant economic and social value.
The hub also hosted an interactive experience for local companies to visit the Abertay cyberQuarter, engage with the demonstrations and meet the team.
Kirsty Scott said: “We are excited to have a hub here in Dundee in the middle of the Tay Cities Regions and we look forward to supporting local companies with a knowledge hub where companies can test, design and prototype leading edge goods and services for the rapidly emerging industrial 5G era.
“The Dundee based Hub is here to enable businesses to reap the benefits from this Fifth Generation technology, and help individual organisations run trials on the test bed and understand the benefits in addition to receiving roadmap technical support on their digital journey.
“We want to help companies not only understand the advantage that next generation connectivity solutions can provide but help to be more efficient, more resilient and more competitive in key sectors.”
Mark Flynn said: “The S5GConnect Dundee Hub marks another significant milestone in Dundee’s identity as a cluster for digital innovation.
“Not only has the open day provided an opportunity for businesses and organisations to find out about the Hub and what it is all about, it showcases the ways in which they can capitalise on the 5G testbed and the Tay5G Project and innovate with 5G.”
Professor Gregor White, dean of Abertay University’s School of Design and Informatics said: “We are pleased to welcome the S5GConnect Hub to Abertay cyberQuarter as we continue to build on the diverse range of tech-focused companies and organisations becoming involved in our new site. The rollout of 5G in Dundee opens the door to numerous opportunities and the potential for significant growth, so we are delighted to be working with key 5G partners to advance the city’s progress in this space.”