Why

Protecting the planet. Transforming agriculture. 

telecoms 

matters

Europe’s transition to clean energy will mean a greater reliance on electricity. This brings its own challenges, with electricity demand expected to double by 2050.

Minimising energy consumption, while making the use of renewable resources more efficient, will be critical to the green transition’s success.

Digitalisation can play a critical role here.

Digitalisation can play a critical role here. ​

5G

can help businesses and consumers reduce their energy consumption, while making energy supplies more reliable through better grid management. ​

connected

When applied across sectors including transport, agriculture and manufacturing, these solutions could help cut global greenhouse emissions by up to 20% by 2030.

technologies

Reducing usage through IoT

Vodafone’s IoT platforms connect over 20 million smart meters worldwide, helping customers cut energy usage by nearly 10% (16.8% for commercial buildings). ​ Schneider Electric, a multinational company specialising in automation, connected all their energy sources with 5G IoT. This helped them better predict and optimise their energy usage, and led to a CO2 emissions reduction of 78%.

Example:

Enabling rural transformation

Connectivity can revitalise rural life by offering citizens access to the services, jobs and opportunities of urban communities, without the need to live in towns or cities.

The Ludgate Digital Hub

In Ireland, Vodafone and ESB worked together on a project that brought full fibre connectivity to the rural town of Skibbereen, enabling the creation of the Ludgate Hub.

Example:

This attracted several businesses to the area, created 319 jobs and contributed €4m to the local economy.

5G IoT  farming

Farmers around the world experiment with digital solutions that can help them cut waste and operate more sustainably. These systems monitor everything from the weather to soil quality and crop health, and provide farmers with the data they need to water fields, use pesticides and more.

5G

In Germany, Vodafone teamed up with Bayer to launch the first 5G network in a greenhouse, where insecticide researchers now study plant health and test climatic conditions. Data from the greenhouse is collected using 5G and processed through AI, with findings then use for further research or creating predictive models.

Example:

Through digitalisation, Europe can accelerate its productivity and drive a new wave of innovation across the whole economy.

Europe now has an opportunity to regain its global leadership in this space.