New network infrastructure is needed to increase the capacity of the networks as the expected growth of communication technologies used by both people and machines is enormous. Digital technologies and the internet are transforming entire business sectors, labour markets and society at large.
The EC conference Netfutures 2015, in Brussels March 25-26, succeeded a decade of Future Internet assemblies, offering an open multi-stakeholder forum for important discussions, exchanges and decision making on the future of the internet and digitalisation. By involving stakeholders from the research and innovation, entrepreneurship, business development and policymaking domains, the idea was to bridge the gaps between communities and make it easier for innovations to enter the market.
Cutting edge network technologies, cloud strategy and digital single market
"We are living in exciting times of unprecedented digital transformation, if not a revolution. In Europe, we have a number of achievements to celebrate - we are at the cutting edge as far as network technologies are concerned, we have a sound European cloud computing strategy and we now have the ambitious goal of making the digital single market a reality.
We have recently put forward the EU 5G vision, feeding into a global debate aiming to agree on the scope of 5G, but also on its main technological constituents, and the timetable for putting it in place. It was the result of an 18 month-long work within the 5G public-private partnership, an initiative bringing together the European commission and industry", said Mario Campolargo, director of DG Connect Net Futures department in Opinion.
Highlights of Day 1 - Launch of Alliance for IoT Innovation call etc: http://vimeo.com/123283960
More about AIOTI: http://www.aioti.eu/#!/page_SPLASH
A wide interest in EIT ICT Labs innovation areas and startup initiatives
EIT ICT Labs was engaged in the event in many ways - as a gold sponsor, with an expo booth showcasing results and demonstrating e.g. the Mobile Shield Freedom platform by F-secure and the mNetbox by the French startup Virtuor. Key notes were delivered from partner organisations, iMinds and Ericsson and Trento Node Director Roberto Saracco held a much appreciated session talk on Smart Cities and Big Data.
Spanish startup Agroptima,and French startup Wulka Drones were active in the Agro/food session and the I3H team were much involved in the FIWARE challenge and promoting the opportunities of connecting with EIT ICT Labs. The Net Futures 2015 FIWARE Challenge awarded the most innovative software applications that are making use of FIWARE and have a clear business impact. Wulka Drones, that offer aerial imaging and analysis services on cloud for precision agriculture, received the 4th place prize and 2500 euros.
The concept of the Business communities related to the innovation areas of EIT ICT Labs and the Idea Challenge was promoted and met with keen interest from business developers, policy officers and startups present at The Egg, the former industrial building now turned into an interesting event venue.
Watch full event summary video: http://vimeo.com/123820456
More information about Netfutures: http://netfutures2015.eu
