Some of the world's largest car manufacturers are joining together in an effort to develop a joint network of rapid electric-vehicle charging stations across Europe. The automakers have opted to reject the idea of installing their own charging stations in favor of a collaborative approach.

The European Commission has endorsed under EU state aid rules three German virtual access products that will allow the use of so-called vectoring technology in state funded high speed broadband networks. This will boost connectivity in rural areas, whilst maintaining competition in the Single Market.

The European Commission is pushing to speed up the implementation of EU-wide rules for the use of drones in the European Union. More than 1,200 safety occurrences - including near-misses between drones and aircraft - were reported in Europe in 2016, which underlines the pressing need for a modern and flexible EU regulatory framework.

Portugal is set to introduce 'free zones' in an attempt to accelerate the development and deployment of self-driving cars and drones in the country. The 'free zones' will also have special regulations which will subsequently allow firms developing driverless technology to test the vehicles in a much more stringent way.

The European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) has launched an initiative worth €60 million in response to the pandemic in an effort to curb the effects of the crisis.

Germany and France have released details of a project which proposes to test self-driving vehicles on a stretch of road that links both countries.

The announcement was made by the Transport Ministry in Berlin in which he outlined the specific aim of the initiative which will test ‘automated and connected driving in real cross-border traffic'. The route selected is 70km (43miles) in length from Merzig in Germany's western Saarland state to Metz in eastern France.

Europe's largest port has announced that it is firmly on course to have autonomous ships operating in its shipyard by 2030. The Port of Rotterdam has projected that by 2030 it will have autonomous vessels interacting almost seamlessly with those operated by people.

A number of financial institutions all over the world have taken steps to strengthen their own security systems after infrastructure following the global cyber-attack which affected a number of organizations worldwide.

Finland is set to significantly reduce urban congestion and harmful emissions by launching a new electrically powered autonomous bus service in its capital city Helsinki. Authorities in Helsinki have formally disclosed plans in relation to the new public transportation system that will revolutionize the city.

Groupe PSA, the second largest car manufacturer in Europe has announced a joint venture with Nidec, the leading comprehensive motor manufacturer, to create “Nidec-PSA emotors”. Carlos Tavares, Chief Executive Officer of Groupe PSA and MM Shigenobu Nagamori, Chief Executive Officer of Nidec, endorsed today the establishment of the new project dedicated to the design, development, manufacture and sale of electric traction motors.

French telecommunications operator Orange has announced it has agreed to partner with US technology colossus Google, in an effort to explore opportunities to fund and potentially acquire start-ups in Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

At Germany’s 5G spectrum auction, 4 bidders offered EUR 1.03 billion in the 75^th round, says the German Federal Network Agency.

A regional transport authority in Germany, Landesanstalt Schienenfahrzeuge Baden-Württemberg (SFBW), has coordinated with Siemens Mobility and purchased 20 battery-powered trains to deploy in the German state of Baden-Württemberg.

US global search engine colossus and technology leaders Google have announced it will use electricity generated by a solar park to power a recently opened data center that the firm established. Google has publicly disclosed that it will purchase all of the electricity which is generated by the largest solar park in Holland over the next decade to power its data center.

At MWC Shanghai 2019, Telecom Review attended a panel discussion titled ‘Future Tech Today’ which featured some key startup representatives and emerging tech experts who all spoke of the ways in which they plan to help societies of the future through the innovation of healthcare, education, agriculture and architecture, among many others. The panelists included Saathealth’s Founder and CEO Aakash Ganju, Strelka KB’s AR/VR expert Ivan Puzyrev, AWA’s Head of Innovation Cathrin Johansson, Eduardo Alarcon, CEO of Tokylabs, George Palamarizis, CEO & founder of Erga Plus and Director of Emerging Technologies at Ultrahaptics Jonny Codling. The panel was moderated by Telecom Review’s very own founder and Editor-in-Chief, Toni Eid.

ICT.Moscow, a digital platform devoted to tech-based solutions, has granted open access to an artificial intelligence (AI) knowledge base of practices relevant for multiple industry verticals and business practices.

A survey shows that over the past two years, 9 in 10 critical infrastructure providers have been hit by 2 or more cyber attacks. A majority of the cyber attack victims have had their environments damaged, leaving their systems out of action, after at least one attack.

According to a new research report from IoT analyst firm Berg Insight, global shipments of NB-IoT devices reached 53 million units in 2018.

Orange Business Services, a global integrator of communications products and services for multinational corporations has announced details of an exciting Internet of Things (IoT) collaboration with European car rental company Hertz. The innovative project which has been launched by Orange will be rolled out across Europe - and will provide 'connectivity' for all Hertz enterprise vehicles.

At AI Everything in Dubai on Wednesday, industry experts spoke about how to train AI to make the world a better place by leveraging it to combat global humanitarian issues.