Driving the future: Insights from Future 5G Ride
How can autonomous vehicles be safely integrated into public transport systems? And what does it take to manage them without a driver behind the wheel?
Over the past 3.5 years, the Future 5G Ride project has explored these questions—serving as a testbed for connected, driverless mobility. It combined 5G, AI, and smart infrastructure to investigate how autonomous vehicles can operate safely as part of a broader transport ecosystem. This included coordination between vehicles, infrastructure, and the digital systems used for supervision and traffic management.
Led by Kista Science City and involving a broad mix of partners from industry, academia, and public transport, Future 5G Ride focused on practical integration. Vehicles, sensors, and operations were connected and tested together to explore how autonomy could work at scale.
What we learned
Autonomy begins with the system
A key lesson from Future 5G Ride is that autonomous public transport can’t rely on vehicle intelligence alone. To be safe, scalable, and effective, it needs to be part of a larger system—connected not just to other vehicles, but to roadside infrastructure and human operators.
The testbed explored what that system looks like in practice: vehicles, infrastructure sensors, and control centers working as one. This fleet-based model makes it possible to coordinate operations centrally, respond in real time, and scale autonomy for everyday use in public transport.
Safety comes from shared awareness
Future 5G Ride showed how combining infrastructure sensors with AI-supported monitoring can address two distinct safety challenges in driverless public transport: situational awareness around the vehicle, and passenger safety inside it.
Roadside sensors helped detect pedestrians and traffic changes, extending the vehicle’s awareness beyond what onboard systems could see. This improved its ability to respond to external conditions in real time. Inside the vehicle, AI-assisted monitoring focused on passenger well-being—detecting incidents or unusual behavior that could require remote intervention.
Together, these capabilities showed how operations can be safely supervised from a distance, reducing the need for onboard staff while improving working conditions overall.
“To be safe, efficient and comfortable in intensive urban traffic, autonomous vehicles need to be aware of all surrounding road users,” says Dr. Yuri Tarakanov, Research Manager at Viscando. “Future 5G Ride gave us the chance to demonstrate how infrastructure sensors can extend the situational awareness of autonomous buses—especially in dense urban settings where vulnerable road users and cars can be hidden from the autonomous vehicle by for example building walls or vegetation.”
Reliable connectivity is the key to future deployment
The testbed made clear that real-time autonomy only works when networks are ready for it. Remote supervision, live data-sharing, and system-wide coordination all depend on robust, low-latency communication, especially in complex urban settings. By testing both public and private 5G networks, the project highlighted what reliable connectivity actually looks like in practice—and why continued network development is critical to scaling autonomous transport beyond isolated pilots.
Collaboration that drives innovation
Future 5G Ride brought together partners from across sectors—each contributing the capabilities needed to develop, test, and validate autonomous transport in operational settings:
- Tech leaders (Ericsson, Telia, Intel) provided advanced 5G and AI capabilities.
- Innovative scale-ups (Applied Autonomy, Viscando) introduced new solutions and fresh perspectives.
- Public transport authorities (Vy, Region Stockholm) ensured the project’s relevance and practicality in real-world conditions.
- Academic research institutions (KTH, ITRL) provided insights into societal impact, human interaction, and scalability.
The road to deployment
Future 5G Ride is now complete—but its outcomes point forward.
By deploying autonomous public transport in active traffic scenarios, the testbed helped show what it takes to move from isolated pilots to scalable, system-level solutions. It validated core technologies and clarified what’s still needed to make autonomous public transport a part of everyday life.
To move from testing to widespread use, several things still need to be in place:
- Scalable integration of autonomous systems across cities and public transport networks
- Robust 5G infrastructure across more geographic areas and real-world use cases.
- Clear policy frameworks to support safe, large-scale deployment
- Public trust to enable adoption and long-term success.
“HRH Prince Daniel at the launch of Future 5G Ride, 24 September 2020. Autonomous transport has come a long way since.”
“Future 5G Ride gave us valuable confirmation of how to work across the value chain. The experience has helped us scale cybersecure, operational solutions across Sweden and internationally—and we’re happy to share what we’ve learned to support safer, more sustainable mobility.” — Olav Madland, CEO of Applied Autonomy.
As coordinator of Future 5G Ride, Kista Science City helped bring together partners from across sectors—creating the conditions for practical testing, shared learning, and long-term collaboration. We’ll continue to support initiatives like this to strengthen Sweden’s role in mobility innovation.
Want to get involved?
Reach out to Lucas Uhlén at lucas.uhlen@kista.com
Riding backwards into the future
Staff perspective:
Key takeaways from Forum International de la Cybersécurité 2025 in Lille!
Kista Science City’s Sakarias Strand attended Forum International de la Cybersécurité 2025 (InCyber Forum) in Lille as the only Swedish delegate. In this firsthand report, he highlights Europe’s leading cybersecurity strategies, emerging trends, and practical innovations—and explores how Sweden can accelerate its own cybersecurity readiness by learning from front-runners like France and Belgium.
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4 April, 2025
As I sat backwards on the high-speed train from Lille to Charles de Gaulle, laptop balanced on my knees, the moment felt symbolic. The movement mirrored the difference I often sense when returning to Sweden’s cybersecurity conversation. While France charges ahead with integration, collaboration, and AI-driven innovation, Sweden seem stuck—awaiting clearer guidance, focused on compliance checklists and vendor comparisons.
Held in Lille, France’s rising capital of cybersecurity, InCyber Forum gathered over 20,000 attendees from 103 countries, plus another 4,000 online. It was a dense, intense, expertly curated three-day event. Attendees sat on floors, feverishly taking notes, absorbing intelligence you simply won’t find on Google. Many talks enforced strict photo bans—for good reason.
It was an honor to be the only Swedish delegate, invited by Business France as part of their France 2030 program. Being there in person—surrounded by global frontrunners and firsthand innovation—offered a rare window into how fast the field is evolving.
photo credit: InCyber Forum
France leads by doing: Cybersecurity as a national priority
France isn’t just theorizing cybersecurity—it’s funding, implementing, and operationalizing it. The 2021–2025 National Cyber Plan has already spawned 50 consortiums, with new cyber unicorns emerging through state-backed incubators like Cyber Booster. The result is a highly curated cyber economy where integration trumps invention, and commercialization—not just research—is the benchmark of success.
Through initiatives like the France 2030 export program and a growing network of national Cyber Campuses, France connects government, defense, academia, and industry. The goal isn’t just to study threats—it’s to actively deploy integrated, scalable solutions. In parallel, France is realigning cybersecurity education with industry needs, prioritizing hands-on skills and real-world problem-solving that prepares graduates to meet live threats from day one.
The key difference from Sweden? French actors aren’t waiting for another strategy paper—they’re already running.
A standout trend at the forum was the mature integration of AI-driven solutions—often without explicitly marketing themselves as ‘AI.’ Rather than pushing consulting or certifications, exhibitors showcased integrated technologies built on open-source intelligence. Behind the scenes, Large Language Models (LLMs) support tasks like vulnerability triage, risk modeling, OSINT, and attacker simulations.
Belgium’s NIS2 certification framework: A model for Europe
While France leads on integration and support structures, Belgium is gaining attention for its regulatory-first NIS2 approach. Since October 2024, more than 4,500 Belgian organizations have registered under a new classification system that sorts them by criticality. Each category comes with specific obligations and certification levels, giving companies a clear picture of what’s expected. This structure improves national oversight and is already viewed as a potential blueprint for harmonizing cybersecurity rules across the EU.
Instead of vague timelines or ad-hoc requirements, Belgium has mapped out a clear seven-step compliance journey—from registration and incident reporting to board-level training and third-party certification.
Supporting this is CyberFundamentals (CyFun®), a national framework from the Centre for Cybersecurity Belgium (CCB). It helps organizations navigate risk-based security levels with tools like self-assessment templates, sector-specific guidance, and optional audits. The approach lowers the threshold for smaller players while setting higher expectations for the most critical ones—creating a common playbook for SMEs, regulators, and essential service providers alike.
Meanwhile in Sweden, NIS2 transposition remains pending—expected by summer 2025 at the earliest. With the European Commission already launching infringement procedures against 23 Member States, one hopes we finalize NIS2 before NIS3 comes knocking.
Looking ahead
InCyber Forum offered a glimpse of the future—and revealed who’s already living it. The contrast with Sweden is striking. While Swedish actors often await clearer national directives before acting, countries like Belgium and France are already moving. They collaborate across sectors, fund scale-ups, and embed cybersecurity into their national growth strategies.
One thing became increasingly clear at the forum: cybersecurity is no longer about checklists or compliance alone. The threat landscape is fluid and weaponized. AI is now standard in both defense and attack. Deepfakes spread disinformation at speed. State and non-state actors blend tactics, and no company is too small to target.
Yet some of the most valuable moments didn’t happen in official sessions. They emerged on the expo floor, in hallway conversations, and online follow-ups.
Sakarias Strand, Kista Science City, Project Manager for Sweden Secure Tech Hub
I return to Stockholm with a long list of promising contacts and collaborations—proof that insights often surfaces between the sessions.
As I’m writing this, I see Sweden’s new National Cybersecurity Strategy for 2025–2029 being released. It’s a timely document, with encouraging signals: stronger public-private collaboration, clearer responsibilities, and an ambition to align with Europe’s evolving threat landscape. If taken seriously, it can serve as a lever for real change—and a crucial boost in resilience, especially for SMEs.
Sweden has the talent and ambition to lead. But we need to move faster. The question isn’t whether we catch up—it’s whether we can afford not to. As we consider our next steps, we must ask ourselves: Are we prepared to treat cybersecurity as both an economic multiplier and security imperative? In a world of frenemies, deepfakes, and digital sabotage, neutrality isn’t an option. Compliance is a great tool—if our only threat is the government. But it’s not.
It’s time to catch up!
Text: Sakarias Strand, Kista Science City