Prof. Mikael Gidlund shared insights at Thinknet 6G Summit

Professor Mikael Gidlund, head of the Communication Systems and Networks group at the STC Research Centre at Mid Sweden University, was one of the invited speakers at the prestigious Thinknet 6G Summit in Bavaria, Germany. The invitation-only event brought together key stakeholders, researchers from the Technical Universities of Munich and Dresden, political leaders, and industry experts to discuss the future of connectivity and the role of 6G. Among the distinguished invitees was Professor Mikael Gidlund, head of the Communication Systems and Networks group at the STC Research Centre. He shared his expertise on the current state of 5G in industrial IoT and its implications for 6G development.

In his talk, Professor Gidlund addressed the challenges that have prevented 5G from fully meeting expectations in industrial settings.

- While vendors celebrate 5G’s potential, operators remain hesitant to scale deployments, and industrial sectors are cautious about their ability to deliver on their promises. Drawing from recent field trials,I highlighted the gap between 5G’s marketed potential and the practical hurdles industries encounter when integrating it into complex environments, say Prof. Mikael Gidlund.

Professor Gidlund also shared findings from the Interreg Aurora Ensure project, which emphasizes innovations in sensor fusion, multi-connectivity, and semantic communication, key areas that could drive 6G’s success in industrial applications.

- For 6G to truly support industrial needs, it must involve direct input from industry sectors and move beyond a narrow focus on ultra-low latency or consumer-driven applications like streaming, say Prof. Gidlund.

Summing up his perspective, Professor Gidlund remarked.

- We find that 5G has not yet lived up to public expectations, leading to a wider disconnect between telecom providers and industrial end-users. As we look to the future, the hope is that 6G will bridge this divide and empower industries to leverage connectivity to its fullest, moving beyond consumer-focused applications like streaming. It is essential to remember that IT is not OT, a distinction that is often overlooked in the telecom and academic worlds, Prof. Gidlund concludes.