JOINT PRESS RELEASE

Brussels – 19^th May 2021

The 5G IA and NetworldEurope ETP sign

Collaboration Agreement

On 28^th April 2021 in Brussels, Dr Colin Willcock, Chairman of the Board of the 5G Infrastructure Association (5G IA) and Professor Rui Luis Andrade Aguiar, Chairman of NetworldEurope ETP Steering Board, co-signed a collaboration agreement to foster cooperation and synergies on European Research Activities on the ICT sector for Smart Networks and Services.  

5G IA and NetworldEurope ETP signed a collaboration agreement to facilitate research and innovation activities for beyond 5G and 6G networks as well as smart networks and services.

Although the two organizations have already enjoyed an excellent collaboration during the past years, the expected Smart Networks and Services Institutionalized Partnership requires a further strengthening and coordination of their activities. The collaboration agreement captures the mutual understanding of the challenges and opportunities in the European Research and Innovation ecosystem in the context of Horizon Europe for the next decade. It also captures the expected role of each organization in the framework of their collaboration.

The mission of 5G IA is to create the next generation of communication networks and services. Ubiquitous connectivity will enable the European industry to successfully compete on global markets, open up new innovation and business opportunities and facilitate the creation of smart networks and services for the benefit of the society.

The mission of NetworldEurope is to to develop position documents on technological, research-oriented and societal issues, including an updated Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA) for Europe in the communication networks domain in an open process in order to guide industrial and long-term oriented research and to provide means for future economic exploitation in global standards and the widespread deployment of communication systems and networks.

Dr. Colin Willcock, Chairman of the Board of the 5G IA, stated: “As our world becomes ever more digitised, it is vital that we collaborate across a broad range of domains and stakeholders. For this reason, this MoU is important for extending the scope and participation involved in Smart Networks and Services partnership through a closer working agreement with the NetWorldEurope ETP”.

Professor Rui Luis Andrade Aguiar, Chairman of  NetWorldEurope Steering Board, said: “In an increasingly globalized world, Europe must develop a strong unified approach to lead innovation in new communication systems. This MoU formalizes the reality of strong collaboration already existing in the Smart Networks and Services partnership, by improving the communication channels between both associations.”

About 5G Infrastructure Association (5G IA)

 The 5G Public Private Partnership (5G PPP) is the 5G collaborative research program that is organized as part of the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 program – The European Union Program for Research and Innovation. It is aimed at fostering industry-driven research, monitored by business-related, technological performance and societal KPIs. The 5G PPP will deliver solutions, architectures, technologies and standards for ubiquitous next-generation communication infrastructure over the coming decade.

In the 5G PPP, the 5G Infrastructure Association (5G IA) represents the private side and the European Commission the public side. The 5G IA is committed to the advancement of 5G in Europe and to building global consensus on 5G. To this aim, the Association brings together a global industry community of telecoms & digital actors, such as operators, manufacturers, research institutes, universities, verticals and SMEs. The 5G IA carries out a wide range of activities in strategic areas including standardization, frequency spectrum, R&D projects, technology skills, collaboration with key vertical industry sectors, notably for the development of trials, and international cooperation.

In the context of Horizon Europe, the 5G IA, together with other leading ICT organisations including NetWorldEurope, submitted a proposal for an Institutionalised Partnership, called Smart Networks and Services (SNS)[1]. Upon successful completion of the legislative process, the 5G IA will be the signing counterpart of the Partnership with the EU in this strategic technology domain for Europe for which a total of 900 Meuro have been earmarked for the 2021-2027 period for 6G and Smart Networks related research activities.

Learn more about 5G Infrastructure Association at: https://5g-ia.eu, https://5g-ppp.eu/

Twitter: @5GPPP

Media contact:

Alessandro Bedeschi, Head of Office, alessandro.bedeschi@5g-ppp.eu

About NetworldEurope

 NetworldEurope is the new incorporation of the European Technology Platform (ETP) for communications networks and services, the follow-up of NetWorld2020, accompanying the European changing policies as stated in Horizon Europe. Communications networks and services enable interaction between users of various types of equipment, either mobile or fixed, in order to fulfill the society requirements for interconnection. They are the foundation of the Internet and of our digital society. The NetworldEurope ETP gathers around one thousand players of the communications systems sector: industry leaders, innovative SMEs, and leading academic institutions.

NetworldEurope strives to help the development of systems with significantly higher mobile and wireless area capacity and more varied service capabilities than today, which will be supported by fixed backbone and access networks and complemented by satellite networks. The final objective is the development of a secure, reliable and dependable digital society with zero perceived downtime for all types of services.

In the context of HorizonEurope, NetworldEurope aims to continue pushing the limits of technological visions which may act as enablers for the future digital society. It is responsible for releasing regular updates of its Strategic Research & Innovation Agenda (SRIA), that constitutes the basis for the Smart Networks and Services Partnership work programmes. In addition, NetworldEurope is actively cooperating to the preparation of the Partnership.

For further information, access the website in https://www.networldeurope.eu/.

For more information, please contact:

Rui L. Aguiar, Chair of the Steering Board, ruilaa@ua.pt

[1] https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/info/files/research_and_innovation/funding/documents/ec_rtd_he-partnership_smart-networks-services.pdf