5G Ecosystems
Europe is investing significant resources in research and technology development of 5G networks through the 5G Private Public Partnership (5G PPP). In addition to various scientific and technological topics, the effort focuses on societal and business challenges creating value with 5G networks. This white paper discusses 5G ecosystems as a prerequisite for value creation for and by the engaged stakeholders and return of investment as a potential award for the engagement. A clear identification of 5G stakeholders supports the creation and evolution of the 5G ecosystems by characterising the potential role that each actor can assume. The identified stakeholder groups include 5G industry and research organisations, vertical sectors' firms, complementor firms, as well as organisations and associations of providers and consumers active in the value network representing the interests of a larger collection of firms and organisations. Those stakeholder groups include both small and medium enterprises (SME) and larger companies, and whenever relevant academic institutions. In addition, standards organisations, open-source organisation and policy makers are an inherent part of the 5G ecosystems, as are governmental agencies at regional, national and European level that support the creation of value in the 5G ecosystems though funding or procurement of innovations. In general, an ecosystem is a complex network of interacting cross-industry actors who work together and are dependent on each other to define, build and deliver value creating customer solutions. The depth and breadth of potential collaborations among actors defines the ecosystem with each actor delivering a piece of the solution or a contribution to the strength of the ecosystem. The power of the ecosystem comes from the fact that no single actor needs to own or operate all components of a solution, with the value of the ecosystem being greater than the combined value of each actor. A 5G ecosystem can be decomposed into two main aspects: (a) the network ...