The revolutionary potential of 5G is not yet fully understood by the public. While the switch from 3G to 4G was mostly a matter of increased speed, the rise of 5G will unlock the potential of a flood of new technologies. From self-driving cars to virtual reality, from Internet of Things to drones, 5G has the power to propel the Middle East forward on its path to digitalization.

Aurora, the autonomous vehicle technology startup, has signed a deal with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) to create autonomous commercial vehicles.

Apple has confirmed its ambitions to develop self-driving vehicles. There has been widespread speculation in relation to Apple's ambitions in the sector of autonomous vehicles over the last number of years, but it has now been officially revealed.

US technology behemoth Apple has suffered a setback in its effort to lead the global movement towards a future of autonomous driving during testing of its self-driving program in California.

Audi, Italdesign and Airbus have combined their expertise to present "Pop.Up Next", which is an entirely electric, fully automatic concept for horizontal and vertical mobility.

Smartphone vendors Blackberry have officially unveiled a state-of-the-art autonomous vehicle innovation center. The fabulous new faculty will be housed within its QNX facility which is located in Ottawa, Canada. The ultimate purpose and vision for the center is to develop production-ready software aimed at accelerating the adoption of connected and self-driving vehicles.

Chinese search engine colossus Baidu and the BMW Group has formally announced they have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), under which the BMW Group will join Apollo, the open autonomous driving platform by Baidu, as a board member.

German car manufacturing colossus BMW has accelerated its efforts to develop autonomous driving technologies by announcing that it plans to construct a test track for self-driving cars in the Czech Republic. The estimated cost of the track is rumored to be around €100m.

A Californian startup has unveiled its autonomous last-mile delivery vehicle which has been tipped to transform and completely revolutionize the delivery services industry.

Canada is set to introduce driverless trucks to its transportation fleet despite the imminent threat it poses to many jobs in the country. 2017 was a year in which the self-driving electric truck industry made huge advancement in autonomous technologies and has paved the way for the driverless trucks to be deployed on Canadian roads by 2019.

A UK-based financial services firm has claimed that China has stolen a march on other countries, and will lead the global autonomous vehicle market, which is expected to be worth around $1 trillion by 2040. IHS MARKIT has suggested that China will spearhead the self-driving revolution and said that the country had already embarked upon a number of initiatives aimed at establishing itself as the major player in the emerging industry.

Chinese AI firm SenseTime have opened an autonomous driving test course in Japan as part of its efforts to facilitate and support the development of multiple smart-driving technologies by conducting a series of road tests.

A Consortium of Chinese companies which are being spearheaded by China's search engine Baidu are leading the country's self-driving charge in the United States. Baidu is set to announce its first vehicle manufacturing partners for its self-driving software in the next few weeks.

Industry leaders say Dubai is now a global pioneer for the use of autonomous vehicles as part of a futuristic transport network.  

Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) and Cruise, a General Motors subsidiary, signed a strategic partnership to operate autonomous vehicles — robotaxis — in the emirates by 2023. As a result, Dubai will be the first city outside the US to operate self-driving Cruise vehicles.

Dutch multinational technology firm Yandex has announced that it has successfully conducted a test of a self-driving car in the Russian capital of Moscow. The company is Russia's largest technology firm and is commonly known as Russia's Google as it's also the country's main search engine with around 65% of market share.

The European Commission has shocked many technology experts by supporting a Wi-Fi based standard for cars that is being pursued by automotive behemoth Volkswagen.

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.

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.