Tay5G Challenge Fund 2 Announces Winners for Promising Innovations in Scotland
Tay5G, a Tay Cities Region Deal project in collaboration with the Scotland 5G Centre and university and industry partners, has today announced the winners of its Challenge Fund.
This competitive funding initiative aims to accelerate the development of innovative projects utilising the power of 5G technology to transform various sectors. It has been supported with around £600,000 of Scottish Government funding as part of its £2million investment in Tay5G.
The winners of the challenge are AIX Live Ltd, James Hutton Ltd, JET Connectivity and University of Dundee.
The fund attracted extensive interest and the winners, chosen from a wide range of great ideas, represent a diverse range of innovation. Supported by the adoption of 5G technology, these projects aim to bring about advancements in events and entertainment, agritech, drones for search & rescue, forensic science, delivering tangible benefits to business and communities in Scotland and beyond.
AIX Live, selected for their distributed, collaborative events project, is developing a global network of immersive spaces aimed at "Bringing Immersive to your Neighbourhood." AIX Live is about creating that moment of shared experience that stays with you long after an event has ended. They are researching how that feeling can be experienced across different spaces by different audiences all at the same time and how the use of immersive technologies can enable that to happen. The success of their business is reliant on achieving a seamless link between technology and live audience experience and they can’t wait to begin this exciting collaboration with the team at Abertay University and CoSTAR Realtime Lab that will focus on a number of innovations in the use of 5G. Abertay leads the Scottish hub of the CoSTAR network - Convergent screen technologies and performance in realtime. AIX Live aims to leverage 5G technology to address challenges like system latency and synchronisation, ensuring seamless, simultaneous experiences across multiple venues and devices as they move towards commercial operations.
James Hutton Ltd is the commercial arm of the James Hutton Institute, a world-leading agriculture and agritech research organisation. Agriculture is currently facing challenges such as labour shortages, fluctuating prices, and the need for climate adaptation, all while maintaining business viability. Robotics, like tractors in the past, has the potential to improve efficiency by reducing labour and inputs while minimizing negative environmental impacts through a data-driven approach. Although autonomous agricultural robots are already available, they require further testing to build farmer confidence. Building on a successful Tay5G Agritech demonstration, this project aims to integrate robotic platforms with 5G capabilities at Mylnefield Farm. Supported by Soil Essentials and The National Robotarium, the project will use 5G's ultra-reliable, low-latency communications to control autonomous vehicles and gather real-time data, with the goal of establishing a ‘robotics test bed’ for agricultural innovation.
Jet Connectivity has developed 5G radio and user equipment designed for rural and hard-to-reach areas, capable of quickly deploying 5G networks powered by solar, hydrogen, or batteries. With experience in delivering 5G for search and rescue and offshore operations, JET aims to provide a pop-up mobile connectivity solution for emergency resilience across the Tay area. This project will explore meshing connectivity between multiple hardware systems, creating a unified network across pop-up sites. Additionally, JET will explore service slicing to prioritise support for emergency responders and the local community. Inspired by the widespread connectivity issues caused by Storm Arwen in 2021, this solution seeks to ensure mobile and broadband access in remote areas without requiring specialist engineers, due to the user friendly approach to the solution and training materials provided during the project.
The University of Dundee’s Leverhulme Research Centre for Forensic Science, funded by the Leverhulme Trust, focuses on improving forensic science for use in civil and criminal courts through interdisciplinary research and collaboration. One key area of focus is creating accurate virtual reality (VR) representations of real environments. Their developed technology has been validated using a specialized facility to simulate crime scenes and generate accurate VR 3D environments. These VR scenes are shared with law enforcement, legal, and forensic practitioners for training and certification. Currently, there is a delay between data collection and VR 3D environment creation, and with new funding, the Centre aims to integrate 5G technology to enhance and streamline this process, advancing it beyond the current state of the art and further demonstrating its operational use.
Tay5G and the Scotland 5G Centre continue to encourage and support the development of innovative 5G projects, fostering Scotland's position as a leader in technological advancements. By embracing the opportunities presented by 5G, Scotland is set to unlock new possibilities and create a brighter future for its industries and citizens.
Dundee City Council’s Fair Work, Economic Growth and Infrastructure Convener, Councillor Steven Rome, said: “The Tay5G Challenge Fund was designed to help Tay Cities Region growth sectors embrace 5G networks and enhance their businesses.
“The winners of this round have again risen to the task. Each successful project represents genuine innovation with the power to harness the latest connectivity technology and transform sectors of the economy from farming to forensics. They all have real potential, and I look forward to seeing how they develop going forward.”
The Scotland 5G Centre says: “Following the success of last year's Tay5G Challenge Fund, The Scotland 5G Centre is thrilled to support again this second innovation challenge, which offers a unique opportunity for the region to foster innovation and growth. We look forward to supporting the winners throughout the process, helping them turn their ideas into reality. Participants will gain access to private 5G testbed for on-site testing, benefit from our technical expertise and services, and receive guidance on leveraging 5G technology to its fullest potential. This initiative not only accelerates the development of groundbreaking solutions but also strengthens the region's position in technological innovation and advanced connectivity capacity in the Tay Cities Digital Infrastructure Strategy.”
About the Tay Cities Region Deal
The Tay Cities Region Deal is a partnership between local, Scottish and UK governments and the private, academic and voluntary sectors which seeks to create a smarter and fairer Angus, Dundee, Fife and Perth & Kinross under the headings Inclusive Tay; Innovative Tay; International Tay; Connected Tay and An Empowered Tay.
The Scottish Government and UK Government will each invest up to £150 million in the Tay Cities Region Deal over 10 years, subject to final approval of robust business cases.
As of 30th September 2023, over £231million of Government investment has been approved for release and over 1,400 jobs have been created.
This central investment from both Governments has the potential to lever in £400m of investment over 15 years, of which more than £145million has already been secured by Projects.
Full and further information on the progress the Deal has made to date on securing investment and jobs, can be found within the Annual Performance Report located on the Tay Cities Region Deal website - https://www.taycities.co.uk/publications