A pledge has been made to turn Ayrshire into a '5G Innovation Region' during a recent event.

This follows a commitment made in Kilmarnock, according to North Ayrshire Council, which saw the collaboration of The Scotland 5G Centre, the Ayrshire councils, University of the West of Scotland, Ayrshire College, and National Manufacturing Institute Scotland.

A Memorandum Of Understanding (MOU), too, will be signed as the partners develop the 5G Innovation Region proposals.

Councillor Marie Burns, leader of North Ayrshire Council and chair of the Ayrshire Economic Joint Committee, said: "When we launched our Ayrshire Regional Strategy last year, the digital economy was at the very forefront of our plans so becoming a ‘5G Innovation Region’ underlines our ambitions to make Ayrshire a centre of digital excellence.

"We are now moving forward with our plans and there are some exciting times ahead."

Last year, Ayrshire received £3.7million of funding from the UK Government’s Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, transforming it into a region with advanced 5G and wireless technology.

The aid, the council said, will be used to incorporate 5G technologies at three key strategic Ayrshire Growth Deal sites with The Scotland 5G Centre (S5GC) Innovation hub in HALO (Kilmarnock) as a testing hub of 5G innovation.

Other sites include National Manufacturing Institute of Scotland (NMIS) Digital Processing Manufacturing Centre (DPMC) at i3 Enterprise Area in Irvine, Aerospace Innovation Hub, Prestwick International Aerospace Park and Ayrshire Innovation Park, Moorfield, Kilmarnock.

Professor James Miller, principal and vice-chancellor of University of the West of Scotland, said: "As a placemaking university with a firm commitment to our communities, the University of the West of Scotland is looking forward to continuing our role in aligning regional economic partnerships with innovation, resulting in big wins, economically and socially for Ayrshire”

Guest speakers at the event explained how collaboration among councils, businesses, and technology providers are vital for advancing 5G innovation.

Ian Sharp, head of Strategy and Delivery at The Scotland 5G Centre, said: "It’s fantastic to see the work taking place in Ayrshire as the region seeks to maximise the benefits of 5G technology, after being awarded with the 5G Innovation region funding.

"There’s a huge amount of potential in this technology and it can benefit businesses of all types and sizes, from family-run food businesses all the way through to large scale manufacturing."

Companies have been invited to participate in the 5G Innovation Region Project in Ayrshire.

Those interested can visit the link at http://tinyurl.com/3mz5db3k.

The Scotland 5G Centre will lead a Business Challenge Workshop in February to identify challenges and possible solutions with the help of these firms’ insights.