5G-Timber at the Baltic Electronics Conference (BEC) 2022
On October 5 2022, the 5G-TIMBER project organised a panel during the Baltic Electronics Conference 2022 (BEC 2022) in Tallinn, Estonia. The panel was titled “5G-TIMBER: Twin Green & Digital Transition in SMEs” and was moderated by Yannick Le Moullec, Professor of Cognitive Electronics at Tallinn University of Technology, Estonia.
The panel was composed by 7 EU experts panelists:
Helen Sooväli-Sepping, Vice Rector for Green Transformation at Tallinn University of Technology, Estonia
Jari Halme, Senior Scientist at VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd., Finland
Colin Keogh, Innovation Consultant Engineer at Inlecom, Ireland.
Iftikhar Ahmad, Head of R&D Central Function, at Tietoevry Group Finland
Alar Kuusik, Senior Researcher at Tallinn University of Technology, Estonia
Annika Kadaja, Head of Wooden houses association, Estonia
Stephen Parker, Director of Software Engineering at Accelleran, Belgium
The panelists presented their organisations’ views on several key aspects of the twin green & digital transition in SMEs, using the wood value chain as an example.
Key topics that were addressed included:
1. The reasons for which the twin digital&green transition matter for the panelists’ organisations (e.g. efficiency gains, economic and environmental sustainability, corporate social responsibility (CSR), etc.)
2. The measures and changes implemented or planned to be implemented by these organisations or theirs clients? (e.g. new technologies such as 5G, material models/digital twins, new processes, new methods, etc.)
3. The results/effects targeted by these organisations (e.g. productivity gains, CO2 reduction, waste reduction, etc.) and when they expect to see such effects (short-term vs. medium-term, vs. long-term, etc.)
4. The positive and less positive effects of such changes? (e.g. impact on jobs, trade-off between economic and environmental sustainability)
5. Recommendations to and expectations from the 5G-TIMBER project in terms of impact.
A key take-away of the session is that all involved stakeholders need to step out of their comfort zone in order to adapt to the changes needed to achieve the twin digital&green transition. It is also essential to ensure transparency when communicating about actions taken and their actual results.
