An international agreement inked between 10 organizations and the Economic Board Groningen led to the start of a 5G test bed called “5Groningen project” in North Groningen. The project will focus on the sectors of logistics, healthcare, the environment, energy, and agriculture.
KPN, the Dutch Telecommunications Agency (Agentschap Telecom), Vodafone, Huawei, Ericsson, TNO, the University of Groningen, SURF and the Hanze University of Applied Sciences are the partner organizations of the project. Commenting on 5Groningen, Henk Kamp, the Dutch Minister for Economic Affairs said, “Today, the Netherlands enjoy fast mobile connectivity. We need to ensure that our country continues to benefit from the latest developments of mobile technologies such as 5G.”
“This will bring added value for citizens, as well as businesses – not only from an economic perspective but also by enabling key innovations in fields such as healthcare and agriculture,” Minister said.
The first series of tests will be launched before the end of the year at Zernike Campus, Groningen’s large research complex. Groningen is the only rural area in Europe where 5G tests are being carried out. North Groningen is an earthquake prone area and also, it has several educational institutions present at the place. The new 5Groningen project is expected to boost the economy of the place.
“Farmers are at the forefront of technological innovation; not only with regard to the efficiency of their business operations but also, importantly, with a view to ensuring sustainability and environmental protection,’ explained Peter Rake, 5G program manager at Economic Board Groningen.
“Other sectors in the Netherlands and the rest of Europe are paying close attention to agricultural innovation in the fields of sensors, drones and other technologies that will benefit from 5G development.”
