Local government and judicial buildings in Aberdeen city centre     Credit: Mkonikkara/CC BY-SA 3.0

An organisation dedicated to accelerating the demand, deployment and adoption of 5G in Scotland has received £4m of Scottish Government funding to launch two further 5G innovation hubs.

The Scotland 5G Centre – a partnership between Glasgow and Strathclyde universities as well as government agency the Scottish Futures Trust – is launching the new bases in Aberdeen and Kilmarnock, adding to existing hubs in the Forth Valley, Dundee and Dumfries.

The Aberdeen site, which is being run in partnership with local business collective Opportunity North East (ONE), is based in the ONE Tech Hub. In Kilmarnock, where the Scotland 5G Centre is partnering with entrepreneur Marie Macklin’s urban regeneration initiative HALO, the hub is being hosted in the HALO Enterprise and Innovation Centre at The HALO Digital & Cyber Innovation Park.

The aim of the centres is to help local businesses take advantage of 5G technology, with specialist staff there to support them.

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Paul Coffey, chief executive of the Scotland 5G Centre, said the addition of two new hubs marks “a significant step forward in this innovative new programme”.

“Acting as a catalyst to place Scotland at the forefront of digital connectivity, each hub will build on regional engagement, job creation and skills development by supporting key sectors and businesses,” he said.

Scottish Government economy secretary Kate Forbes said the hubs would “help boost the economy and encourage entrepreneurship in Aberdeen and Kilmarnock”.

“The S5GConnect Hub programme is playing an important role in unlocking the power of 5G technologies, helping small and medium‑sized enterprises with the skills they need to understand how 5G can benefit their business,” she added. “This transformational technology could provide Scotland with competitive advantage and, most importantly, improve quality of life for citizens and businesses across the country as we rebuild a sustainable economy with good jobs at its heart.”