Dr. Manuel Fuentes from Universitat Politècnica de València represented the 5G-Xcast project in the 5G Vertical User Workshop, held in Brussels from 12th to 13th February. The workshop, as an initiative of a subset of European 3GPP Market Representatives, established a very collaborative event for strategic dialogue between vertical industries and 3GPP. A series of needs and standard discussions took place regarding several verticals such as automotive, industry 4.0, utilities, e-health, broadcasting, public safety or energy.

The first session of 12th February mainly focused on a 5G vertical “tour de table” with representatives of PSCE, 5GAA, 5G-ACIA, ESOA, EBU and EUTC, while the second session was dedicated to 5G PPP vertical activities tracking. In this session, Dr. Fuentes briefly explained the main contributions of 5G-Xcast partners to 3GPP as well as the main scope and current status of the project.

The second day was focused on the 5G Rel’16 and Rel’17 3GPP standardisation process. 3GPP experts provided and overview and explained how verticals are currently contributing to the standardisation process. The event finished with an interactive session about the creation of 5G vertical platforms and their engagement in 3GPP.