5G mmWave Hackathon 2022 launching in Tampere

Launching in September 2022, the city of Tampere will host an XR + 5G mmWave Hackathon in collaboration with global technology leaders Qualcomm, Nokia, Elisa and CGI.

The collaboration team invites all students and start-up developers to come together to design new XR applications utilizing the extensive data sets and data reach of the city. At the end of the intense hackathon, the concepts will be tested in the iconic Nokia Arena in Tampere, where best-in-class 5G mmWave networks are set to make Tampere one of the fastest cities in Europe. The aim is to combine local datasets with cutting edge 5G mmWave communications infrastructure to offer better services to citizens and city authorities.

The hackathon will commence with a kick-off event in the Nokia Arena on the 12th of September, which is open for all interested parties. The partners will gather for an interesting panel discussion about the possibilities of 5G mmWave, accompanied by a presentation of the Snapdragon Spaces™ XR Developer Platform and Hardware Developer Kit that all teams will have access to during the hackathon.

This is a tremendous opportunity for developers to really explore the key capabilities and opportunities that 5G mmWave and XR present and to see what creative and innovative ideas they can bring to life. 5G mmwave brings fibre-like data speeds​, incredibly low-latency for real-time interactivity​ and combines that with massive capacity; pair that with XR and in particular Snapdragon Spaces which is a powerful platform for creating ground-breaking applications. This is an exciting project, we are proud to be a part of it and look forward to seeing the results of the Hackathon, says George Tsirtsis, Senior Director, Technology, Qualcomm Technologies International, Ltd.

- We are looking forward to welcoming the very best in developer talent to the Nokia Arena in Tampere next month. I’m particularly interested to see what innovative extended reality concepts, designs and ideas are going to be explored utilizing the huge capacity and ultra-high data speeds of Nokia’s 5G mmWave networks. Tampere is already one of the most advanced cities in terms of 5G networks in the world and these new ideas could help drive better city-wide services to its citizens and businesses, states Ari Kynäslahti, Head of Strategy and Technology at Nokia Mobile Networks.

- Elisa’s comprehensive 5G network and close cooperation in the Tampere region create excellent conditions for the innovation of new digital services - both for the city itself and for the entire ecosystem. The high frequency 5G network is interesting to the user because it can be used to create a particularly large mobile data transfer capacity in a small area, which is comparable to the current fiber connections offered to consumers. It is interesting to see what kind of usage possibilities for this kind of mobile network can be found at the hackathon, says Kalle Lehtinen, Technology Director at Elisa.

- We are extremely happy to have the global leading companies in wireless technologies join us in organizing this event in Tampere. The hackathon offers local developers and students a unique opportunity to show their skills, and we look forward to seeing what new ideas the teams will come up with," says Markku Niemi, program director of smart city development, from Business Tampere.

The hackathon is facilitated by Ultrahack. For additional information and detailed descriptions of the challenge, visit: https://ultrahack.org/xr-5g-hackathon-challenge

To register for the kick-off event on the 12th of September, click the link.

Further information:

Markku Niemi, Director, Smart City
Mobile: +358 50 511 7341
markku.niemi@businesstampere.com