Eleven New EU ICT Projects Start this Fall

Eleven new projects under European 5G-PPP venture would commence in September, the European Commission confirmed. They will cover the transport sector spanning three cross-border routes and hardware innovation schemes.

The latest announcement takes the total invested through the program, a joint venture between the EC and European ICT industry, to €400 million in EU funding with a further €1 billion from private companies. Among new projects are the creation of three 5G international corridors designed to enable testing of various use cases in the road, rail and maritime sectors. “Each project will provide a 5G network infrastructure that offers both multi-service and multi-application features to varied means of transport (such as cars, trucks, trains, pods, barges and boats), as well as improved connectivity to public users,“ the EC said in a statement.

Other initiatives starting in September centre on development of hardware and ecosystems using specific frequencies, technologies or designed to meet the requirements of defined verticals. Sectors targeted include media production, smart cities, emergency communications and vehicle data processing. One of the projects will also develop overarching technologies related to the provision of cloud-native 5G private networks.

The EC noted that the aim is to build a European industrial supply chain for core 5G technologies and hardware devices, and notably for network technologies and systems, while creating market opportunities and supporting the emergence of new innovative market players. Final projects set to be approved under the scheme, carrying a further €100 million in funding, will be announced later this year with applications closed earlier this month.