The global 5G industrial alliance, the 5G Alliance for Connected Industries and Automation (5G-ACIA), recently held its notable yearly General Assembly in Taiwan, the first time the event has been hosted there.

Major industry players participated, including Bosch, Ericsson, Mitsubishi Electric, Nokia, Qualcomm, and Siemens. The assembly was supported by the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), which brokered the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between 5G-ACIA and the Taiwan Association of Information and Communication Standards (TAICS).

This MoU brings Taiwanese manufacturers in line with global Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) 5G standards.

Pang-An Ting, General Director of ITRI's Information and Communications Research Laboratories, stated, "ITRI has been actively working on the R&D of 5G and B5G technologies for industrial upgrading, and this year our commitment extended beyond that."

He went on to explain the importance of bringing the event to Taiwan, stating that it helped to "promote global standards for 5G smart manufacturing through the collaboration between 5G-ACIA and TAICS. Bringing together leading telecommunications players is advantageous for Taiwan to access the global supply chain and market."

Jyuo-Min Shyu, the Chairman of TAICS, praised the collaboration, saying that the partnership would enable the exchange of technical documents, industrial standards, and current developments in 5G smart manufacturing.

He placed emphasis on how this can support Taiwan's products in gaining a footing in the global supply chain while ensuring competitiveness when it comes to meeting 5G/6G communication standards set by leading international telecommunication organisation, 3GPP.

Adding to the discourse, the General Chair of 5G-ACIA, Dr. Andreas Mueller of Bosch, expressed that "building on 5G-ACIA's leading role in globally driving and shaping Industrial 5G, our collaboration with TAICS signifies another crucial step in taking Industrial 5G from theory to practice."

His team is dedicated to creating an innovative ecosystem that sets new benchmarks for wireless connectivity in the industrial domain. He believes their shared ambition will expedite the practical implementation of Industrial 5G solutions on the global stage.

A showcase of 32 state-of-the-art technologies and applications for 5G smart factories was displayed on Industrial 5G Day. Participants included leviathans of the industry such as Qualcomm, Ericsson, Nokia, and others.

The technologies demonstrated by diverse companies like Hwacom, Jorjin, Sercomm, Ataya, Inventec, Lions, CTOne, Telecom Technology Centre, Tangram, O'Prueba, and Saviah, shone a compelling light on the potential applications of 5G technology in industrial settings.

5G-ACIA is the central global forum for shaping 5G in the industrial domain. On one platform, various industries from all over the world jointly create a new ICT and OT ecosystem and set the frameworks for a highly attractive emerging market.