Up to £600,000 funding available for UK organisations to try 5G in the Tay Cities Region

The Tay5G Challenge Fund 2 is a grant funding opportunity worth up to £600,000 to support organisations trialling products and services using 5G networks. Applicants can be from anywhere in the UK, but projects must impact or have activity in the Tay Cities Region.

Tay5G is a programme funded by the Scottish Government and established by the Tay Cities Region Deal to help businesses, individuals, public sector and the third sector to engage with 5G networks. Tay5G aims to stimulate and support engagement with 5G networks across sectors which reflect the regional strengths and priorities of the Tay Cities Region.

Partners of the Tay5G initiative include Dundee City Council, Angus Council, Fife Council, Perth & Kinross Council, Abertay University, relevant national organisations and other stakeholders in the Tay Cities Region.

Tay5G's goal is to create opportunities to trial 5G mobile communications with use cases for all kinds of sectors from entertainment to manufacturing, healthcare to construction, and fashion to automated transport. 5G networks are especially useful in enabling advanced communications such as virtual reality, automation and the Internet of Things - a key tool for Smart Cities.

Through initiatives like the Tay5G Challenge Funds, the Tay5G programme promotes the exploration of the potential of 5G networks, unlocks access to word-class research and development expertise, state-of-the-art R&D resources and a diverse network of talent to develop impactful projects.

Up to £600,000 is available through the Tay5G Challenge Fund 2 to support up to six applicants who can apply for between £60,000 and £250,000 to demonstrate impactful projects for products, services or solutions which use 5G networks. Applicants from across the UK are eligible to apply but are encouraged to engage with organisations in Tay Cities Region and Scotland.

The Tay5G Challenge Fund 2 is being managed by Dundee City Council and the Tay5G Board.

Dundee City Council Convener of Fair Work, Economic Growth and Infrastructure, Councillor Steven Rome said: “The Tay5G Challenge Fund has been designed to help the Tay City Region growth

sectors embrace 5G networks and enhance their business by optimising processes, increasing capability through to enabling new products and services.

"We look forward to hearing from innovators with ideas for projects which harness the power of 5G technology to drive economic growth. We funded some fascinating projects in the first round, in fields as diverse as fashion, agritech, smart cities and broadcasting, and I’m sure that will be the case again."

The Tay5G Challenge Fund officially opens on Friday, 5th April 2024.

The Tay5G Challenge Fund is a competitive funding opportunity and applications close on 3rd May 2024.

For more information about Tay5G and Challenge Fund 2 and to apply please visit www.tay5g.com and https://www.digitaldundee.com/tay5g/tay5g-challenge-fund-2