Oulu, the home of 5G hosts EuCNC and world’s first 5G hackathon – and that’s only the start

Oulu, Finland, has a track record of 50 years – and counting – in creating the wireless technologies of the future. The next revolution will be 5G and the first 5G connection was made at Nokia’s Oulu factory in Oulu on December 23, 2016. June 2017 is all about 5G and technology as Oulu hosts the world’s first 5G hackathon, two EU-level meetings and the Arctic Economic Council. This is your chance to discover Oulu, the home of 5G.

Currently, some 2.6 billion people use solutions designed in Oulu, Finland, on a daily basis. 5G is the next generation of wireless connectivity, and that too is being created in Oulu. It will be the next chapter in Oulu’s wireless wonder story. Enabling this wonder story are the various test environments and living labs that Oulu has to offer, such as the 5G Test Networks (5GTN) running at the University of Oulu and Oulu University Hospital.

5G will revolutionize wireless connectivity and enables new, evolved services. 5G will be 150 times faster than current 4G connections, on top of which latency will be virtually nonexistent. The faster and latency-free connections allow large machinery to operate independently and safely as all the surrounding machinery will be connected to the same network.

To further boost 5G innovation, Oulu hosts the world’s first 5G hackathon, the 5GFWD Hackathon on 9-12 June, 2017. The companies participating in the hackathon seek solutions to their development challenges along with new employees. The challenge providers for the hackathon are Oulu University Hospital, Telia Company’s Finnish Subsidiary Telia Finland, and Nokia’s Oulu factory. The challenges vary from hospital customer journey to digital factory and mobile apps for 5G age. The teams that are participating in 5GFWD Hackathon come from 13 countries, and the grand final will be held on 12 June at the University of Oulu, where the three track winners will compete for the grand prize of the hackathon.

Top-level EU summits in Oulu, Finland

June in Oulu is going to be crowded with people from all over the world. In addition to the multinational teams participating in 5GFWD Hackathon, Oulu is honored to host three top-level EU summits in June. From 12-15 June 2017, 5G will be one of the main talking points at European Conference on Networks and Communications (EuCNC’2017), the 26th edition in the series. The home of 5G is the perfect city to host this edition of EuCNC, themed ‘5G – European Roadmap, Global Impact’.

On June 13, the public and EuCNC guests are treated to a 5G showcase around the Oulu City Theater and the Market Square. Visitors are able to interact with virtual and augmented reality gadgets that will showcase the 5G speeds of the future and the possibilities it enables.

As the Capital of Northern Scandinavia, Oulu is proud to also host the second Arctic Economic Council’s Top of the Word Arctic Broadband Summit. The TOW summit will be held on June 14-15 in Oulu and will include panel sessions and discussions with experts from across the Arctic region from the fields of business, technology, science, and decision-makers. The focus of TOW Summit is on safe, competent and interconnected Arctic.

The home of 5G is also the ideal stage for “A sustainable Arctic – innovative approaches”, a high-level conference co-organized by the European Commission, European External Action Service, and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland. The conference will be held 15-16 June, where High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the European Commission Federica Mogherini will have an open debate with governments, industry, research, indigenous and local community representatives on the climate and environmental challenges facing the Arctic and on how international and local cooperation can boost sustainable and innovative development.