Transforming Your Business With 5G
On 17th April, The Scotland 5G Centre held its largest in-person event to date – a national 5G conference in Glasgow’s Innovation District.
Taking place at the Technology and Innovation Centre, our Transforming Your Business with 5G event was a huge success with SME’s from across Scotland, global telecoms companies, local authorities and researchers in attendance.
5G technology offers more than just improved mobile phone connections. Companies of all sizes across the world are embracing 5G technology to take advantage of the benefits it enables.
With challenges across industries including rising energy costs, ageing technology, security concerns and supply chain disruptions, 5G can transform business operations and save time and money, providing real-time data and allowing staff to work remotely.
On the day, attendees heard from Kirsty Scott, Business Engagement Manager of The Centre’s Dundee innovation hub on the support available to businesses and role the Scotland 5G Centre plays in accelerating the adoption of 5G in Scotland. The Scotland 5G Centre innovation hubs are located nationwide and offer free access to cutting-edge 5G test beds, providing impartial advice to organisations wishing to set up private 5G networks.
Following Kirsty’s introduction, there were guest presentations from Vodafone, Ericsson and Ofcom.
Craig Pemberton, Senior Innovation Manager, Vodafone Business presented on ‘Connecting the Unconnectable for Smarter Transport and Logistics’ highlighting the increased pressure on ports to create efficiencies and how wireless technologies are changing the way they operate – increasing automation, eliminating operational delays and digitising the supply chain.
Richard Moore, Principal of Spectrum Policy at Ofcom presented on ‘Radio Spectrum for 5G’ showcasing the options available to businesses including Private 5G, Public 5G, LoRa, Wi-Fi and LTE technologies. Ofcom have made available ‘Shared Access’ spectrum suitable for local 5G network deployment meaning businesses can request low-cost licenses enabling localised access to spectrum.
Mike Barlow, Sales Director of Enterprise at Ericsson UK&I, presented ‘But I Can Do That With WiFi, Can’t I?’ exploring the benefits of Private Mobile Networking and how it can be used to compliment other technologies. Mike presented where Wi-Fi can be used recommending its use for non-critical tasks like video calls and administrative tasks whereas Private 5G technology would be more beneficial for business critical and mission critical situations where the business or lives are at risk if the system doesn’t perform as planned.
Following the presentations, The University of Glasgow presented a 5G-enabled teleoperation demonstration and how it can be applied to pharmaceutical manufacturing; and Ian Sharp, Head of Strategy and Delivery at The Centre chaired an innovation panel discussion exploring how innovation centres can support the creation of a new digital future.
Joining the panel were: Lynsey Brydson, Head of Digital Programmes at Built Environment Smarter Transformation; Dr Rachael Wakefield, Business Development Manager at Censis; and Darran Gardner, Business Development Executive at The Data Lab.
The panel discussed the potentials of new technologies, the importance of innovation and collaboration, solving the digital divide and the transition to a net zero economy.
Request a visit to one of our hubs for impartial advice: https://scotland5gcentre.org/expression-of-interest/
Read about the 5G demonstration here.
View the slide deck here.
Find out more about our partner companies:
