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On Wednesday the 7th of November Trondheim Municipality, together with its partners, kicked off the +CityxChange project in Trondheim. The kick-off lasted for three days with nearly 90 participants from 32 partners. One of the main targets for the kick-off was to determine how to create open, collaborative and engaging partnerships.

For the next five years, the cities of Trondheim, Limerick, Alba Iulia, Písek, Sestao, Smolyan and Võru will experiment on how to become smart positive energy cities, that use digital services to improve quality of life for and together with all of their citizens, generate more energy than they consume, and exchange experiences with cities across Europe to learn faster, together. Under the leadership of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, these seven cities will develop and test new solutions together with an impressive list of 11 large enterprises, 9 SMEs, 3 non-for-profit organizations and two universities, covering the entire value chain: IES R&D, Powel AS, University of Limerick, Energy Agency of Plovdiv, Future Analytics Consulting, Research2Market Solutions, ISOCARP, TrønderEnergi AS, ABB Norway, AtB, AVIS Budget Group, Statkraft Varme AS, ESB Innovation RoI Ltd, ESB Networks, Ove Arup & Partners SAU, FourC AS, R.Kjeldsberg, Smart MPower, Space Engagers, Colaborativa, Officinae Verdi, IOTA Foundation, NHP Eiendom, and GKinetic Energy Ltd.

The independent experts evaluating the proposal commend +CityxChange for demonstrating and substantiating actions that will contribute to the wide-scale roll-out of Positive Energy Districts across Europe, with a convincing approach to make local governments an active and integral part of the energy solution, engaging citizens in the city transformation, and involving the entire district energy value chain, extending to high level policy makers and cities, universities, large enterprises, distributed network operators, SMEs, and non-profit organizations. The project will receive 20 million Euros in funding by the European Research and Innovation Programme Horizon 2020. In addition, the project partners add 10 million Euros of in-kind efforts to ensure the local implementation of the demonstration projects in Trondheim and Limerick.

For more information, please check our website: cityxchange.eu.

Disclaimer: This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 824260.    

Telia is the first operator to open a 5G network in Oulu. With the network, the Oritkari-Nuottasaari area will become one of the world's first industrial 5G environments.

Thanks to the 5G network, industrial companies and logistics operators in the area can develop new digital operating models and innovations with the help of the latest technology.

"We estimate that the first applications of 5G can be found in an industry where automation, remote process management and versatile real-time data usage benefit from the minimal delay and top speed of 5G. Oulu's strong ecosystem and the operators' open-mindedness in the introduction of new technologies accelerated our decision to continue the deployment of 5G in Oulu," says Janne Koistinen, 5G Programme Director, Telia Finland.

In addition to industrial processes, 5G is expected to bring significant opportunities for logistics through real-time monitoring and autonomous or remote-controlled vehicles.

"Oulu is one of the key locations for research and development of Nokia 5G technology and mobile network products globally. The strong start-up culture of the Oulu region and close cooperation between the city, the university and the businesses in the region have enabled a unique ecosystem to be created in Oulu. Among other things, the ecosystem has built an open 5G test network, where companies in the area collaborate to generate new products and services," says Rauno Jokelainen, VP, Smart Radio Development Unit, Mobile Networks at Nokia.

Oulu has extensive plans to develop its industry and business activities, along the lines of the city's strong technological tradition.

"The City of Oulu has pioneered the development and innovative use of various urban networks in cooperation with Nokia and different operators. Cooperation in 5G networks continues this culture and once again offers a platform for the development of new services and business models," says Janne Mustonen from BusinessOulu.

Telia opened a pre-commercial 5G network in Helsinki in early September. The network operates on test frequencies issued by the Finnish Communications Regulatory Authority. Actual commercial activity in the 5G network can be started at the beginning of 2019, when the licenses for new frequencies issued by the Government will enter into force. Telia won the 5G frequencies in the 3.5 GHz frequency range in a frequency auction, which ended on 1 October.

Contact person:
Janne Mustonen, Key Account Director, Business Oulu
janne.mustonen@businessoulu.com
+358 45 6752929