Applications for the first round of grants under Australian 5G Innovation Initiative are opening soon and the grant guidelines are now available.
The Initiative will run over three years and aims to showcase the benefits the 5G technology can provide to businesses in Australia.
A total of $10 million is available as part of this first grant opportunity under the Initiative, with businesses able to apply for between $100,000 and $2 million.
To be eligible projects must conduct trials that undertake rigorous, commercial, and replicable testing of technologies that make use of 5G, as well as identify solutions that demonstrate 5G's capabilities.
Eligible activities must make use of at least one of the following three core 5G capabilities:
- enhanced mobile broadband
- ultra reliable, low latency communications
- massive machine-to-machine communications.
Some examples of 5G applications that take advantage of 5G's capabilities across a range of industry sectors are:
- Agriculture—5G sensor nets deployed for on-farm monitoring, providing real-time information about soil moisture or water levels. This data can support farmers make data-driven decisions in farm management.
- Manufacturing—Live device monitoring over 5G to predict equipment wear and schedule predictive maintenance in manufacturing and industrial locations and provide real-time feedback on the performance and operation of machinery.
- Healthcare—5G networks could connect diagnostic imagery to specialists in real-time. Through wearables, doctors could have real-time information about patients' conditions.
- Transport and logistics—5G connected smart tags can provide real-time tracking for goods as well as providing insights on food freshness. Enhanced digital labelling could improve place of origin information.
- Construction—5G could provide workers with building visualisation on site through augmented reality glasses. Sensors can be placed in building components to provide real-time data on construction as well as the ongoing performance of buildings.
We have also launched an online noticeboard to help businesses connect with other organisations interested in partnering to deliver a project as part of the Initiative.
Projects can now be registered on the noticeboard. Businesses can add project ideas and short description to the noticeboard, or find potential projects they want to partner with and start a discussion with the project owner.