second wave of projects co-funded under CEF Digital (5G for Smart Communities)
Ten projects have been selected under the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF Digital) programme, to spearhead the implementation of 5G connectivity, enabling cutting-edge and innovative applications
The outcome of the second call for proposals within the framework of the CEF Digital programme has now been officially unveiled, after the conclusion of the Grant Agreements by the executive agency HaDEA.
Ten projects have been selected to spearhead the implementation of 5G connectivity, enabling cutting-edge and innovative applications.
With a budget of over €50 million, the 5G for Smart Communities calls were designed to pilot the deployment of 5G standalone systems, thus contributing to the EU’s Digital Decade targets.
Together with the seven projects previously co-financed under the inaugural CEF Digital call for proposals, a good starting base of 17 CEF Digital 5G for Smart Communities projects will soon be running throughout Europe. In this context, the 5G for Smart Communities initiative represents a valuable best practice action for 5G standalone systems, aiming to catalyse private investment in the sector.
The primary objective of the 5G for Smart Communities initiative is to accelerate 5G coverage across Europe, with a specific focus on underserved rural and low-connectivity regions. At the same time, it also aims to showcase the distinct advantages of 5G in improving services that are essential to the well-being of local communities, strengthening innovation and competitiveness.
Second wave of projects co-funded
5GENIUS - A Next-Generation Network for the University College of Ghent (Belgium)
The project aims to install a 5G network and service provisioning program at the University College of Ghent. It is designed to address the growing need for high-speed connectivity on campus and provide cutting-edge network services.
This project is not solely focused on technical advancements, but seeks to serve the broader community by providing uninterrupted and high-quality services to businesses and start-ups, students and researchers, and other relevant stakeholders in the emerging smart (campus) community. The purpose is to establish a sustainable and future-proof infrastructure that facilitates innovation, economic growth, and prosperity.
Coordinator: CITYMESH NV
Total EU contribution: €1,080,004.00
5G-TERRA - 5G infrastructure and services for public interest and social inclusion (Greece)
The project aims to provide high-quality 5G connectivity to the end customers of remote and sparsely populated areas in Greece for personal, business and governmental growth, to enable efficient, state-of-the-art Healthcare Services and to support the deployment of 5G infrastructure as part of the Europe’s digital transformation.
Indicative examples of use case scenarios include the use of smart glasses for live-video, remote support of the carers/ first-aid services/ ambulance crew from doctors in the medical facilities, and/or wireless, handheld ultrasound devices for whole-body scanning and delivery of high quality images.
Coordinator: WINGS
Total EU contribution: €4,947,750.00
The 5G4LIVES project is an initiative implemented across 2 geographic clusters: Latvia and Italy. The project aims to leverage 5G connectivity and other innovative technologies, such as UAVs (or drones) and alternative hydrogen power, to enhance public safety and environmental health.
In Latvia, the 5G4LIVES partners will focus on developing a solution based on drones and 5G, monitoring and performing rescue operations in hard-to-reach areas in Riga: Vecaku Beach and Kisezers lake. This use case will enable the police to intervene more promptly and sustainably.
In Italy, 5G4LIVES partners in Turin will develop a 5G-enabled, real-time situational awareness and vulnerability assessment service to mitigate the threat from and impact of natural disasters across the local hillside.
Coordinator: RIGA CITY COUNCIL
Total EU contribution: €2,869,500.00
The project aims to implement a secure 5G infrastructure for next-generation wireless healthcare wearable AR/VR based solutions.
The project consists of the implementation of a private 5G network covering several units of the Oulu University Hospital which is intended to serve as a development and research environment for advanced information sharing and visualization technology in the consortium.
More specifically, the project will enable a new way of work in the wireless operating rooms and facilitate innovations, such as machine vision based surgical navigation. The 5G wireless network, together with wearables and a visualization application, will provide surgeons, nurses and anaesthetists with personalized information in AR and VR modes.
Implementing a private 5G network is crucial to ensure the utmost availability, uninterrupted functionality, and data security, all of which are paramount in a healthcare setting.
Coordinator: Edzcom
Total EU contribution: €1,553,802.00
The project aims to enhance the level and quality of public services provided by the Port of Ploce Authority, through the deployment of a dedicated private 5G network in the port area.
The project’s objective is to establish leading-edge connectivity capable of large data processing, sharing and analytics, which will allow the optimisation of traffic and logistic processes in the port area. Moreover, the project supports the implementation of three innovative data intensive use cases: Introducing a Real-Time Location System (RTLS); Surveillance and record keeping of cargo manipulation; Incident prevention and management.
Coordinator: PORT OF PLOCE AUTHORITY
Total EU contribution: €958,125.00
5G Healthcare - 5G in Healthcare – Northern Region PT (Portugal)
The project, led by NOS Comunicaçoes and with NOS Technology, Centro Hospitalar Universitário de Sao Joao and the Instituto Nacional de Emergencia Médica as partners, aims to use 5G to foster advanced use cases that will improve the experience of the community of Portugal Northern Region (mainly Porto District) requiring hospital services.
The purpose is to deploy several use cases, demonstrating the enormous potential that connectivity to the 5G network can achieve in the healthcare sector, such as 5G connectivity in emergency vehicles (ambulances and helicopters), medical training resorting to live 5G supported video feed from a robotic da Vinci system, remote support to diagnosis and monitoring via 5G/IoT and virtual/augmented reality in the recovery of patients.
Coordinator: NOS COMUNICACOES
Total EU contribution: €2,486,500.50
5G.RURAL – 5G for rural smart communities of tomorrow (Portugal)
The project aims to test interoperability-driven Smart Communities integrated business models enabled by shared access to 5G interconnectivity deployed in rural areas, beyond the conventional licenced coverage. The first neutral hosting 5G infrastructure will be implemented across the Alentejo region in less densely populated areas.
The project supports communities facing lack of digital environment by deploying infrastructure elements, such as antennas and 5G access, and ensures the development of Smart Communities, with a focus on villages with lack of digital infrastructure, via enabling the Smart Services, access and interconnectivity.
Enabled by this connectivity innovation, six smart community services, including healthcare, education, energy, agriculture, tourism, art and culture will be implemented as pilot use-cases in pioneer municipalities.
The first use-case for example focuses on healthcare and particularly on telemedicine and telemonitoring practices, instead the second use case focuses on education, putting augmented and virtual reality at the service of the school community.
Coordinator: Dstelecom S.A.
Total EU contribution: €3,946,956.75
5GMHI - 5G Mobile Healthcare Innovative solutions (Sweden)
The project aims to create insights about how healthcare needs in the Region of Stockholm can be met with 5G technology and the related effects and quality improvements, and how new services can be provided in healthcare, for the benefit of the region's residents, patients, and employees.
The project will focus on solutions for the emergency medical services using 5G video communication to facilitate resource optimization and opportunities for increased patient safety and quality of care through drones and ambulance mounted cameras. The project will also focus on Real-time locating system and sensors of hospital beds and infusion pumps.
Coordinator: Region Stockholm
Total EU contribution: €6,377,587.50
ED5GE - 5G Edge Enabled Smart Communities for Green Transformation in the North Project (Sweden)
The project aims to deploy a 5G edge network infrastructure with the latest features such as network slicing and network-based positioning to provide leading edge computing connectivity to enable low-latency, reliable and IoT connected applications and use cases for public authorities in four Smart Community areas.
The project will cover different sets of use cases for three cities in the north of Sweden involved in the society and industrial transformation towards a fossil free society and industry and one farming testbed site in a community in mid-Sweden for improving agriculture efficiency and safety.
The new 5G edge network infrastructure will help for example to:
• Improve emergency response times and safety in a port area and surrounding city.
• Improve waste and recycling management in a city area, industrial parks and suburbs through the use of advanced applications and autonomous vehicles to monitor and manage energy consumption, reduce waste and optimize resource utilization.
• Enable mission critical city traffic services for mobility and traffic control using a massive number of cameras and other sensors.
• Minimize the environmental impact in sensitive areas, enabling precision farming for biodiversity preservation, ensuring agriculture labour safety and improving the health of cattle promptly.
Coordinator: Telia Sverige AB
Total EU contribution: €3,077,730.00
TUKE 5GSC - TUKE 5G Infrastructure for Smart Communities (Slovakia)
The project aims to prepare and deploy a private state of the art 5G network at TUKE university in Kosice in order to test and develop two use cases and deliver blueprints of these. The main objective is to support the early deployment of 5G-based systems that enable to develop and test a smart logistics use case and a smart energy metering use case.
Subsequently the project wants to provide use case blueprints for dissemination in other smart communities and thereby support 5G best practices in different sectors that can serve as templates for possible replication.
In this way, the project will demonstrate the potential benefits of 5G networks and therefore stimulate the wider and faster deployment of 5G across Europe.
Coordinator: Slovak Telekom, a.s.
