Webinar and whitepaper

5G – what’s in it for Europe’s manufacturing? On September 21, the CTIO of Cap Gemini Invent, Kary Bheemaiah, together with an expert panel shared their best bets on what 5G will bring to the industry. Both the webinar recording, and the whitepaper are now available on EIT Manufacturing’s social innovation network, AGORA, here.

In her State of the Union speech on September 15, Ursula von der Leyen, President EU Commission pointed out digital as a make-or-break focus for the EU, with strong investment push in 5G, fiber and digital skills. Question is, what’s really in 5G for Europe’s manufacturing industry?

Adding flexibility, efficiency, and responsibility in manufacturing

According to keynote speaker Kary Bheemaiah, CTIO Cap Gemini INVENT, the main benefit of 5G will come from increased flexibility, efficiency, and sustainability, thanks to the rapid data transfer allowing for seamless and transparent decision-making.

In his keynote, Kary Bheemaiah, dived into explaining the technical aspects and the new jargon associated with 5G. “To sum up 5G basically allows for a massive scaling up of industry 4.0, allowing the interconnection of state-of-the-art technologies and real-time exchange of data. In some of our use-cases, calculations show that transitioning to a cellular factory 4.0 solutions can yield a return ten times the initial investment in only five years.”

Changing every-day life

The invited expert panel, consisting of experts from Germany, Italy, and Ireland, debated on the future applications and business models that 5G will give birth to.

The panel discussion led to diverse perspectives from the technology industry, academia and manufacturing industry sharing views on the near-term impact of 5G in their business. Several pannellist highlighted that there is still a gap between the technology and solutions and the real needs.

“I have the best job in the world in building the connectivity of tomorrow, working together with startups and building relevant use-cases with a focus on 5G. Organisation like EIT Manufacturing can help identifying relevant needs and solutions needed by the large corporations, bring industry knowledge, and match ideas with needs” – Florian Bogenschütz, CEO at Wayra, Germany.

For instance, 5G will increasing possibility of simulations, for instance in the automotive industry, where you will need an immense number of data points to develop autonomous driving. Beyond adding flexibility and efficiency, the new technology can be used to improve factory safety as some dangerous parts in the factory can be handled fully remotely.

Beyond manufacturing, 5G also holds a potential to change our everyday life thanks to the increasing number of possible connections possible, improving anticipation and organisation of your everyday life, such as reserving a parking spot in advance. “New business models are beginning to emerge, and in the future,  it will be a challenge to understand who is actually the service provider when compared to past models”, Patrick Durkin, Commercial Director,  Inlecom, predicted.

On the challenge side, the panellists agreed cybersecurity threats is a major concern that may stall the technical development, together with justifying the investment.

Hungry for more?  Head over to AGORA to access the newly released 5G whitepaper & recording!

The next Tuesday From Future sessions will take place on October 26 and focus on the impact of Blockchain in manufacturing.