With the motto "Detmold is becoming digital," the city invited participants to a series of lectures to accompany its digitization projects. It was intended to address perceptions, fears and ideas about the digital transformation. It was canceled due to the Corona pandemic. The LZ picked out some of the topics in the series and spoke with the scheduled speakers. For example, Arne Neumann of the OWL University of Applied Sciences had made the latest development stage of mobile communications, 5G, his topic.
"Mobile communications are indispensable to our world today, both in business and in private life," reads the announcement for your talk. How does 5G come into play here?
ARNE NEUMANN: Wireless, digital telephony has been evolving rapidly since the 1980s. While cell phones have become more modern and initially smaller, the demand for a faster network has also increased. Step by step, mobile data transmission has become more and more important. With the fourth generation, cell phones have become fully Internet-capable, and global networking is now standard. In addition to human users, 5G also includes machines and systems, the so-called "Internet of Things. This places new demands on the network, especially in terms of reliability and freedom from delays.
When you talk about an exchange between humans and machines - does that mean that 5G is primarily more interesting for companies than for private individuals?
NEUMANN: The fourth generation already meets virtually all the needs of private customers with its network coverage and speed and offers sufficient data rates for mobile streaming, for example. But if you look around at companies, you keep coming across the topic of Industry 4.0. Value chains must be made more flexible, delay times must be minimized, and the exchange between man and machine must be advanced. A digital and automated workflow is the basis of flexible production processes, also in order to survive in international competition.
In which areas do you see 5G as an opportunity?
NEUMANN: Telemedicine is an important keyword. The transmission of data in real time makes medical assistance possible more quickly despite spatial separation, for example also by enabling an emergency physician to be guided through traffic more quickly. Other areas include autonomous driving, virtual reality and smart homes.
It is often said that Germany is lagging behind in the area of networking...
NEUMANN: Europe is certainly no longer the leader in terms of digitization. Nevertheless, I see great potential in our medium-sized companies with their expertise that is in demand on the global market, whose innovative strength can be raised to a new level through networking and digitization. For widespread use, including here in Lippe, a number of things still have to happen, of course. This includes first increasing the number of transmission towers. It is therefore all the more gratifying that the district of Lippe has already received funding for an initial concept.
Acceleration of climate change, data tapping, health hazards - there is massive criticism of network expansion in some quarters. Can you understand this?
NEUMANN: Of course, criticism should always be taken seriously. Nevertheless, it has to be said that in terms of data security and radiation exposure, for example, not all that much has changed in contrast to 4G. A smartphone worn close to the body, for example, exerts more of a burden than a radio mast. There has always been a risk of data being tapped through networking, and basically it is up to each individual to decide to what extent they want to use networking technologies for themselves. However, technical developments help to close security gaps and reduce risks. In my opinion, we can't stay with the old technology.
The interview was conducted by LZ trainee Lorraine Brinkmann.