The implementation of the 5G Scalable Hubs for Accessible and Resilient Education (5G-SHARE) project is now underway at the Technical University of Cluj-Napoca (UTCN), the National University of Science and Technology POLITEHNICA Bucharest (UNSTPB), and Vodafone Romania (VFRO), marking the beginning of a collaborative effort to deploy advanced 5G infrastructure and develop innovative digital applications for education and research across Europe.
Co-funded by the European Union through the European Health and Digital Executive Agency (HaDEA), under the Connecting Europe Facility – Digital (CEF Digital) programme, 5G-SHARE brings together a consortium of nine partners from Ireland, Romania, the Czech Republic, and Italy. The consortium includes universities, telecommunications operators, and industry partners, combining complementary expertise to develop and validate next-generation 5G-enabled solutions. The project officially commenced in January 2026 and will run until December 2028, during which the partners will deploy, validate, and demonstrate advanced 5G-enabled large-scale pilots.
As part of the project, new private 5G networks will be deployed at the participating universities to enable a range of innovative use cases, with a particular focus on Extended Reality (XR) Learning. By combining XR technologies with low-latency and high-bandwidth 5G connectivity, the project will create immersive learning environments where students and instructors from different countries can collaborate in real time using shared three-dimensional digital content and virtual laboratory setups.
The Romanian partners will also contribute to several complementary use cases that demonstrate the broader potential of private 5G networks. Together with the international consortium, they will participate in the Post-Quantum Cryptography in 5G use case, exploring the integration of post-quantum cryptographic solutions and advanced cybersecurity training to strengthen the security and resilience of future digital infrastructures. At UTCN, the project will develop the 5G Sensing Network use case, showcasing the capabilities of 5G for real-time sensing and AI-driven data analysis. In addition, UTCN and UNSTPB, supported by VFRO, will jointly implement the AI-Augmented 5G Academic Network for Next-Generation Research and Collaboration use case, establishing a high-speed 5G connection between the two universities to enable resource sharing, collaborative research, and the joint development of educational and scientific initiatives.
The implementation of 5G-SHARE marks an important step toward the large-scale integration of private 5G networks in education and research, aiming to deliver replicable solutions and best practices that can be adopted by universities, industry, and public-sector organizations across Europe.
More information about the project is available online.
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