Dundee City Council, in collaboration with local and national organisations, are working on making the Tayside city a 5G testbed. This news comes at a time where the S5GConnect programme is set to build a new 5G hub in Dundee
The city will be the next location for an innovation hub form the Scotland 5G Centre. A physical site is set to be announced in coming weeks and is said to be operational from May 2021.
Partnerships with local authorities, Abertay University and the Scottish Futures Trust have led to the S5GConnect scheme launching in the Tayside City. S5GConnect is a programme from the Scottish Government that aims to deliver a network of hubs across Scotland to boost economic growth.
A statement suggested that the hub will provide access to a testbed led by Dundee City Council. Allowing developers and organisations to create new 5G mobile games and applications. This could potentially lead to the incorporation of tech such as AR and AI, Automation, and an Internet of Things.
Mark Flynn, convener for the Dundee City Council’s city development committee said:
The business community in Dundee currently enjoy a high level of connectivity and ultrafast services with good upload and download speeds. But as the nature of doing business changes and there is an inevitable increase not just in demand, but in expectation, we want to ensure that more businesses in the city can enjoy a more uniform experience, with the greater performance and improved efficiency that 5G offers
Adding that he was “delighted” that Dundee will be the location of Scotland’s newest 5G innovation hub.
This has the potential to improve healthcare and management of buildings as well as gaming applications.
Working with local businesses the hub will offer access to a 5G development platform. Again this is with the intent to increase interest and investment in the city.
In the build-up to the physical site’s launch in May. 5G Centre staff will be working in collaboration with the InGAME R&D Centre and Abertay University’s Emergent Technology Centre.
Cyber Security could also be changing with the coming of this new 5G hub. Through a collaboration with Abertay University smaller businesses will be encouraged to take on board proactive cyber security practises that take advantage of 5G technology.
The central waterfront testbed has been funded through the Scottish Government’s Growth Accelerator Model. Providing the funded needed to implement a 5G infrastructure.
£2m of funding has also been ring-fenced to help deliver the 5G use cases within Dundee. A combination of Scottish and UK government funding along with private investors is said to reach a total of £700 million. Raised for the promotion of sustainable and inclusive prosperity for the area.
Dundee has already established a dynamic technology-based economy and the Scottish Government’s investment of £4m through the S5GCConnect programme is providing the support to drive next-generation businesses in this sector.
Paul Wheelhouse, Scotland’s Connectivity Minister
Dundee has a proud track record of partnership working with established tech networks to enable the city to flourish – the local team at the 5G innovation hub will support organisations, networks and communities to get involved in the acceleration of 5G deployment at an earlier stage
Chief Executive at the Scotland 5G Centre, Paul Coffey
Photo by Steve Gilruth on Unsplash
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