The Agency for Technological Reform of the State (ARTE) has published the Global Report on the Impact Assessment of 5G in Public Administration. The report summarises the key findings of 5G technology implementation in projects run by Portuguese public bodies and highlights its potential to modernise public services.
5G is a technology that enables a new generation of digital services. It offers greater network capacity and lower latency, as well as supporting solutions based on emerging technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence, edge computing, video analytics and autonomous systems. These features enable the delivery of public services that are more efficient, intelligent and focused on the needs of citizens and businesses.
Fifteen projects spanning a variety of sectors
The report is based on monitoring 15 pilot projects using 5G technology in the public administration sector, including areas such as health, education, justice, defence, mobility, agriculture, the environment, and citizen services. Ten of these projects were supported by the Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP) under Notice No. 103/C19-i01.01/2024, while the remainder were funded from other sources. Examples include:
- In the health sector, specialists at Nélio Mendonça Hospital in Madeira follow surgeries remotely in real time through smart glasses connected to the 5G network. In the Viseu Dão Lafões region, a telemonitoring project monitored patients with an average age of almost 84, recording over 4,000 clinical measurements.
- In education, 227 students at the Lisbon School of Nursing learnt anatomy using three-dimensional virtual reality models.
- In the areas of justice and defence, the Military Judicial Police use drones with 3D mapping technology to examine crime scenes, while the Portuguese Army has enhanced surveillance of its units by using sensors and drones, as well as 23 simultaneous high-definition video feeds.
- In terms of mobility and territory, the Coimbra region has digitised on-demand public transport in low-density areas. In Óbidos, sensors and machine learning algorithms help to detect leaks in the water supply network.
The benefits of digitalisation
Results show tangible benefits in terms of process digitalisation, operational efficiency, service delivery and user experience. In several cases, 5G has been instrumental in enabling solutions that require real-time data transmission, high availability, and the connection of multiple devices and systems. This confirms its role as a catalyst for the digital transformation of the public sector.
The report also highlights the critical success factors for implementing 5G, such as team training, interoperability between systems, collaboration between organisations, and an appropriate regulatory framework.
A four-year journey
The publication of this report marks the end of the journey undertaken by Agency for Technological Reform of the State (ARTE) between 2022 and 2026. This involved analysing international trends, defining a strategic vision for the adoption of 5G in public administration, identifying and assessing use cases, and finally monitoring the implemented projects. In the identification phase alone, more than 30 workshops were held with over 200 participants from 92 public bodies, resulting in the analysis of 47 use cases.
The Global Report on the Impact Assessment of 5G in Public Administration fulfils RRP target #1622 and will be a valuable resource for future initiatives seeking to adopt advanced technologies in the public sector.
An overview of the results and impact of 5G on the public sector
View the report here