The 5G Techritory Forum 2020 in Riga will establish the Latvian capital as regional hub for a new type of “hybrid” events. 

In November 2020 the third issue of 5G Techritory Forum will once more bring together the decision-makers for 5G use in Europe in the Latvian capital Riga.  

This year the 5G Techritory Forum will take place in an innovative “hybrid” – a “phygital” – format through a brand-new technology developed in Latvia and launched for the 2020 5G Techritory Forum — with main events broadcasted live from Riga from November 11-12, 2020. 5G stands for “fifth generation technology standard for cellular networks” and is  “… one of the technological achievements that can significantly change our lives. We need to create the basis for collaboration and the laws required to implement the technology and innovations. “ Said the former Latvian Minister of Economic Affairs Ralfs Nemiro on the occasion of the first 5G Techritory Forum in 2019. 

 The forum in Riga is the first and only conference that deals with the political and regulatory side of 5G — in contrast to the usual focus on technology at 5G conferences. Since technological development is progressing so quickly, the necessary adaptation of laws and bureaucratic regulations remains far behind — but these are urgently needed to enable cooperation between countries and politics. This side of 5G development is covered by the 5G Techritory Forum.  

No country can imply 5G on its own — it is too expensive, too complex and has too many cross-border aspects. VASES, the Electronic Communications Office of Latvia, therefore took the lead to promote this cooperation between the countries of the Baltic States. The aim of the conference is to bring together the driving forces behind 5G decisions from Europe: telecommunications operators, network operators, politicians, bureaucrats and lawyers as well as everyone involved in 5G networking solutions.  

The 5G Forum was initiated in 2018 and in 2019 even the date of “The Nordic Council of Ministers”  meeting in Riga was changed to match with 5G Techritory Forum, to allow ministers to attend both events. The meeting of the Nordic Council of Ministers and a first “Policy-Maker Hackathon” — an approach to brainstorming from the start-up scene — resulted in a collection of ideas for solutions which were presented as output of the “Stakeholder Round table” to the European Commission*. 

At the event in 2019, many concrete activities then were set in motion during the congress – however, the 5G industry’s rollout worldwide has not developed as expected. So the main task in the 2020 Forum will be to precisely analyse and observe the reasons for these delays and to find solutions for how to overcome the obstacles. These hurdles are partly due to the lack of resources, but also to the slow speed with which political decisions can be made — more radical solutions are needed here.  

Since the focus of future business development in Latvia is on so-called “deep technology”, smart city developments and cellular network technologies / drone traffic management, the 5G network will play a very important role for the country.  

5G is available in Latvia in several test beds, but also the local 4G network is very strong, compared to other countries: strong enough for a demo by LMT (Latvijas Mobilais Telefons) during the 2019 Congress, in which a drone over a distance of 20 km (out of sight) was flown. The demonstration worked flawless – a registration platform for drones is on the list of urgently needed applications as soon as 5G is available.

“To operate the 2020 event, a brand-new Latvian technology will be launched which will help establish Riga as a leading hub for what is called now “hybrid” events in the meetings industry. This new sophisticated platform is developed and soft-launched from September onward by 3K Management, a Latvian Event company. It will raise event standards to allow true “phygital” experiences — interaction between physical and digital attendees. And what event could be better suited for such a launch as the 5G Techritory Forum with its high-end technical standards!” says Janis Jenzis, Chairman Of The Board at Riga Tourism Development Bureau – LIVE RīGA