Innovation Trends in I4.0 enabled by 5G and Beyond Networks – New 5G-PPP White Paper

October 18th, 2023. University Carlos III of Madrid and Ericsson, members of 5TONIC, the open research and innovation laboratory founded by Telefónica and IMDEA Networks, have participated in the creation of the new White Paper «Innovation Trends in Industry 4.0 enabled by 5G and Beyond Networks» presented by the 5G Infrastructure Public Private Partnership (5G-PPP), a joint initiative between the European Commission and European ICT industry. ABB, a 5TONIC collaborator, was also involved in its redaction. The White Paper is now available here, and provides a 360-degree perspective on I4.0 design, principles, drivers and trends, most of them supported or enabled by 5G. The White Paper incorporates insights on I4.0 synergies with 5G gathered by the lead researchers of 5G-PPP Phase III projects like 5G-Induce, 5G-Smart, 5Growth, 5G EVE, Vital-5G, Evolved-5G, 6G-BRAINS, and 5G-Era, as well as 6G SNS2 project Predict-6G.

The White Paper highlights the relationship between the development of Industry 4.0 and 5G technology, how they have influenced each other and contributed to the evolution of different vertical industries. Firstly, it steps into segmenting, staging and assessing the applicability of 5G and beyond technologies for the short and mid-term challenges of I4.0 by analyzing stakeholders engaged opinions, extracting their collective inputs and highlights, and focusing on them to create new solutions adapted to their needs by using 5G, IoT and Edge technology. Secondly, it demonstrates how the pace and streams of 5G and business evolution could push I4.0 further. Thirdly, the Paper provides a glimpse into some key evolving and new disruptive technological aspects around 5G evolution to 6G (Sixth Generation), such as Deterministic Networking, Non-Public Networks and Digital Twining, that will support longer term synergies between I4.0 with 5G.

In terms of key takeaways of the White Paper, the objective of 5G-PPP is to provide different perspectives of general applicability always rooted in concrete cases, facts and trends from the universe of research and innovation activities in the field of 5G enablement of I4.0. Standards like 5G provide I4.0 with the essential features and performance demanded across heterogeneous use cases, and bring economies of scale to be leveraged now and towards the future that will allow adopters gain a major competitive advantage.

Several members of the 5TONIC laboratory such as Carlos III University of Madrid, Ericsson and ABB have been able to contribute to the development of this document by bringing their experience and knowledge about the development of these new technologies and their applications in the I4.0 based on their own projects.

Some of the  members contributing with the document are: Carlos III University of Madrid, with the participation of Carlos J Bernardos, vice president of 5TONIC and full professor at this university, alongside with Antonio de la Oliva, associate professor; Ericsson’s Manuel Lorenzo, Head of Technology and Innovation (that served as the editor of the White Paper) and Marc Mollà, Chief Solution Architect, and last but not least, Enrique Sierra, Technology Development Manager at ABB.