Over seven years, DTU and four other Nordic universities have conducted more than 80 joint courses for PhD students and researched Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) with support from NordForsk. Additionally, a strong professional network has been established, providing unique access to test facilities and developing an IoT roadmap.
The image provides an overview of the 5G laboratory designed for conducting remote 5G research at NTNU.
Monday 07 April 2025
Hanne Kokkegård
When working with telecommunications, it is crucial to continuously test how well various adjustments work, such as with 5G, which is especially used to transmit images and video, and where power consumption is extremely important. Is there enough bandwidth, and does it go faster if you change different parameters? 5G testing capabilities have been significantly improved through the Nordic IoT Hub project / HI2OT, where five Nordic universities have worked closely together from 2018 to 2024.
During the project, the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim provided remote access to their state-of-the-art 5G laboratory, allowing researchers at DTU, Lund University, The Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, and Aalto University in Finland to log in from home and conduct experiments. This was immensely helpful during the Covid-19 pandemic, as research could continue despite partial lockdowns in the countries.
”The Nordic IoT Hub has significantly enhanced our students' education and research opportunities. Through remote access to state-of-the-art laboratories across five Nordic universities, our PhD students could continue their research uninterrupted, even during the pandemic. The hub's collaborative approach created a unique environment where students actively participated in joint experiments, workshops, and courses, significantly enriching their academic and professional development,” says Paul Pop, Professor and Head of Section for ESE - Embedded Systems Engineering at DTU Compute and Lead for the project.
DTU Compute: Unique opportunities in framework project
Nordic IoT Hub was initially conceived as a research school offering courses and training in IoT to PhD students across borders. This resulted in over 80 joint high-level courses, among them five summer schools, and numerous workshops and special sessions. Additionally, there were numerous study stays for the associated62 PhD students, 46 of whom have graduated so far.
However, the hub evolved into much more, including open IoT labs with nearly 40 setups shared among the partners. A Nordic IIoT roadmap was also developed as a supplement to a European one, as the Nordic countries are significantly ahead in digitalisation. Read more in the fact box.
“Originally, the project was set for six years, which is a long time horizon from a Danish perspective. It was even extended by an additional year due to the pandemic. At the same time, it was a kind of framework project where we could fill in content along the way, and it has given us unique opportunities,” says Project Consultant Ivan Ring Nielsen at DTU Compute, who has been the project leader.
Professor Paul Pop states that the Nordic IoT Hub has significantly enhanced ESE’s research capabilities by fostering collaboration across five Nordic universities.
“Additionally, ESE has been actively involved in new initiatives, such as proposals to MSCA Doctoral Networks and COST Actions focused on ICT for sustainability and green computing, reinforcing our role in shaping the future of industrial IoT research, ensuring that our expertise in embedded systems engineering drives impactful innovation across the Nordic region,” says Paul Pop.
DTU Electro: strong Nordic network
In addition to DTU Compute, DTU Electro has also been a partner in the project. Here, Associate Professor Michael Stübert Berger has overseen the department’s PhD students.
He mentions that they co-authored peer-reviewed conference papers with PhD students at NTNU and Lund University, which were presented at recent conferences. The research was based on shared experiences from the measurements they had made via 5G remote access.
“Remote access is not so unusual. We do it when we sit in our own offices and control processes that take place in the basement. But it has given us the opportunity to work with something we otherwise would not have been able to. Moreover, the personal network has been highly beneficial for the young students. The project has also given us researchers a strong Nordic network that we did not have before, and today we help each other as examiners, etc.,” says Michael Stübert Berger.
Today, students continue to utilize resources and contacts across the universities.
“It is also worth mentioning that smaller groups of PhD students in the Hub organized workshops for the entire group, which were quite successful,” he adds.
Facts
About Nordic IoT Hub - HI2OT
Funded by NordForsk, an organisation under the Nordic Council of Ministers that provides funding for and facilitates Nordic cooperation on research and research infrastructure. Period: 2018-2024.
Five Nordic Universities: DTU in Denmark (DTU Compute and DTU Electro), NTNU in Norway, Lund University and Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden, and Aalto University in Finland.
Offering more than 80 joint high-level courses for PhD students, among them five summer schools, and numerous workshops and special sessions.
62 PhD students have been associated with the hub, so far 46 of them have graduated.
Development of a Nordic Roadmap for Industrial IoT.
Remote access to state-of-the-art laboratories across five Nordic universities.
Have built an important professional network for academics.
NTNU: Great opportunity for sharing existing resources
At NTNU, they are also very pleased with the project and the remote access setup.
With minimal setup, partners could gain access to the network and run their experiments, benefiting everyone, explains Diaa Jadaan, PhD Candidate at the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at NTNU:
“Acquiring and setting up lab equipment can be both costly and time-consuming. By sharing existing resources with research partners, the Nordic IoT Hub significantly enhanced its research capabilities. This collaborative model fosters increased joint research among the hub's five Nordic universities. Consequently, NTNU has taken the initiative to make its Private 5G network remotely accessible to all partner institutions.”
Lack of skilled IoT academics
A side benefit of the Nordic IoT Hub was the collaboration to educate more PhD students with specialized qualifications in IoT technology, thereby creating their own supply chain. Typically, a student pursuing a PhD will have an eye on an academic career.
“It is generally difficult to find qualified labour within IoT because the Nordic region is on the outskirts of Europe’s attractive job area. This effect has not yet manifested. The universities will also locally try to create a job opening if there is a suitable candidate. So, there is competition between us, but overall, there is a common challenge to find qualified labour, and we believe the project has created a solid foundation to build on,” says Ivan Ring Nielsen.
The universities continue to meet online, albeit now only every other month instead of monthly, as was the case during the project.
In April, DTU will know if they receive EU funding for new IoT projects.
The setup for the 5G remote lab at NTNU
Facts
IIoT roadmap
The five Nordic universities (DTU in Denmark, NTNU in Norway, Lund University and Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden, and Aalto University in Finland) have developed a roadmap on Industrial IoT (IIoT).
IIoT is a key enabling technology for the green transition, bringing together several technological paradigms, from smart electronic components, 5G technologies, to AI and Edge Computing.
The roadmap supplements the existing European roadmaps released recently. The Nordic countries are years ahead of their EU counterparts in the digital rollout of implementing digital services and infrastructure. The Nordic roadmap suggests several measures to be pursued in the next decade:
To maintain and strengthen the Nordic leading position in trustworthy digitalisation. A general enabler for this leadership has been the long-term focus on security and trustworthiness of the IIoT systems. However, further success and industrialisation will require a strong emphasis on collaboration and synergies between the currently scattered national competences. We therefore recommend establishing a joint Nordic Centre doing research in trustworthy methodologies for the implementation of sustainable IIoT.
To prioritise R&D with increased focus on IIoT solutions facilitating traceability, reparability, durability, and recyclability, with a specific goal to establish the required multidisciplinary collaborations. This focus is motivated by the green transition, which will require a framework for green growth and the circular economy, enhanced by digital technologies.
To train the next generation of students in both digitalisation and the green transition, the Nordic universities should focus on sharing advanced course modules that are easily integrated into the current curricula.
