Minister Henk Kamp of the Ministry for Economic Affairs visited EnTranCe last Monday to get an insight in the newest developments in the field of renewable energy and innovation. He took the opportunity to talk to people who work at several projects, which are solidified on the EnTranCe terrain. Further, he and alderman Mattias Gijsbertsen (GroenLinks) of the city of Groningen signed the Green Deal ‘Gasloze Wijken’.
Although still in its built up phase, the Living Lab by 5Groningen opened its doors for the Minister. At the unique lab 5G applications can be tested and further developed. For example, drones and virtual / augmented reality and a variety of applications in the field of the Internet of Things (IoT). This lab is the gateway for real 5G field tests. Here, the first prototypes are tested before they are used in North Groningen. The facilities are available to researchers, students, startups and businesses, which wish to test their innovations with the latest generation of mobile communications.
The 5G living lab is part of the Digital Society Hub developed by the Hanze University of Applied Sciences Groningen. The Digital Society Hub is an innovation workshop where students, teachers, researchers and entrepreneurs work together on the latest technological developments. Multidisciplinary teams will work on new products and applications in the field of 5G, Big Data or E-Health. In the hub, applications can be devised with the help of for example virtual reality, augmented reality, games or drones.
In addition, the newly opened HESI Lab (TNO) were on the visitation list. Here Minister Kamp was informed about the testing of energy systems to make them more sustainable in an affordable way. This shall happen without compromising the reliability of the existing energy system and energy supply. The facility bridges the gap between proof of principle and the deployment of hybrid energy system technology in real life. Furthermore, he got the newest information by Holthausen, a specialist in gas and gas transport, about the operations of a fuel-cell bus.
