India’s Tech Mahindra to set up 5G/6G Innovation Lab in Finland

Introduction

 

6G a focus of study at Finland's University of Oulu

 

Indian firm Tech Mahindra, a provider of digital transformation, consulting and business reengineering services and solutions, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Business Finland, an agency directed by the Finnish government, for research and development in 5G and 6G.

 

Under the terms of the agreement, Tech Mahindra will set up an innovation lab in Finland. A spokesperson of the Indian company told RCR Wireless News that the operations will be jointly started in India and Finland and that the initiative will also be jointly financed by the Finnish government and Tech Mahindra.

 

As part of the collaboration, the Indian tech giant will develop, pilot and implement state of the art digital products and services to foster growth, productivity and innovations in the area of 5G and 6G. Tech Mahindra said that Finnish universities, research centers, companies and government agencies will have access to the new facility.

 

Timo Harakka, Finnish Minister for Employment, said: “The MoU between Tech Mahindra and Business Finland is an excellent step forward in the close collaboration between Finland and Mahindra group. Business Finland will work together with Tech Mahindra to explore the possibility of establishing 5G/6G Innovation Hub in Finland. I am sure that this cooperation will be mutually beneficial and provide great opportunities for both Finland and Tech Mahindra.”

 

Jagdish Mitra, Chief Strategy Officer and Head of Growth, Tech Mahindra, said,: “The Finnish technology ecosystem is one of the most progressive in Europe. Their strategic focus on building ‘technologies for the future' has been the cornerstone, and the initiative towards developing 6G technology and further working on 5G use-cases aligns well with our TechMNxt charter, which is our global initiative to leverage future technologies to solve real business problems. Our collaboration with Business Finland and the newly setup Innovation Centre will enable us to leverage their expertize in this space and establish us as a globally recognized leader in 5G and 6G.”

 

The spokesperson also said that the main aim of the lab will be “Joint research on the core technologies in access with a specific focus on developing industry applications.”

 

Tech Mahindra employs over 131,500 professionals across 90 countries and has a global customer base of 946 companies.

 

Earlier this month, the University of Oulu, in Finland, published what is claimed to be the world's first 6G whitepaper, outlining the key drivers, research requirements and challenges for this technology.

 

The report outlines a tentative roadmap towards ‘ubiquitous wireless intelligence' for 2030. “The bottom line of 6G is data,” said Matti Latva-aho, director of 6G Flagship at the University of Oulu and co-editor of the whitepaper. “The way in which data is collected, processed, transmitted and consumed within the wireless network should drive 6G development.”

 

The whitepaper also postulates that 6G will become a framework of services, including communication services: “In 6G, all user-specific computation and intelligence may move to the edge cloud. Integration of sensing, imaging and highly accurate positioning capabilities with mobility opens a myriad of new applications in 6G. Trust and privacy are key prerequisites for a successful 6G service platform.”

 

Finland is not alone in the field of 6G research as the Chinese government also recently started researching 6G technology.

 

According to reports by Chinese state media, government ministries and research institutes had meetings earlier this month with the aim of establishing a national 6G technology research and development group.

 

The Ministry of Science and Technology said that it will set up two working groups to carry out the 6G research activities.

 

One group will consist of relevant government departments responsible for promoting how 6G research and development will be carried out. The other group will be made up of 37 universities, research institutes and companies, which will exclusively focus on the technical side of 6G technologies.

 

Source

 

Livemint, 28 November, 2019