Exploring New Paradigms in Cultivating Multi-Skilled Talent

The new wave of industrialization is reshaping the core of industry through digital technologies. At its heart lies the creation of an intelligent ecosystem that spans all elements, the entire value chain, and the full lifecycle. As a key enabling technology, the independent private 5G network plays a crucial role in driving industrial transformation toward digitalization, connectivity, and intelligence. It offers three core advantages—on-demand capacity expansion, on-demand flexible deployment, and on-demand dynamic scheduling—enhancing the flexibility and scalability of industrial networks while providing secure, reliable, and efficient communication for the industry. This lays a solid foundation for building a new-type industrial network integrating IT and OT.

Demand for Digital and Intelligent Talent Under New Industrialization

The upgrade of the technical architecture of new industrial networks requires the deep integration of independent private 5G network technologies— including planning, deployment, and O&M—with industrial systems, thereby placing higher requirements on talent. Professionals must not only be proficient in core technologies such as 5G network slicing, edge computing, 5G LAN, and time-sensitive networking (TSN), but also have a deep understanding of industry-specific processes and equipment protocols (such as OPC UA and Profinet). They must be capable of designing low-latency wireless control systems and ensuring seamless integration with the existing factory systems such as PLC and SCADA. Only in this way can the performance advantages of the independent private 5G networks be accurately translated into substantive improvements in production efficiency, quality control capability, and security level. This calls for multi-skilled talent well-versed in both the industrial and digital technologies.

Institutions of higher learning take on significant responsibilities for talent training. Higher vocational colleges focus on developing highly skilled, application-oriented talents that meet the immediate needs of the industry. Undergraduate colleges focus on theoretical innovation and scientific research capability training. However, most of the institutions of higher learning adopt a single-track approach and cannot meet the requirements for interdisciplinary, multi-skilled talent.

Jointly Shaping New Models for Talent Training

As a leader in the ICT field, ZTE collaborates with partners and educational institutions to promote the integration of end-to-end 5G applications into school training. It seeks to establish a closed-loop talent development model under the new wave of industrialization, covering curriculum design, practical training, competitions and certifications, and employment alignment. The ultimate goal is to build a technology-to-talent ecosystem and create an industry–education collaborative innovation system (Fig. 1).

Facing the demand for talent in new industrial networks, ZTE collaborates with ecological partners and universities to explore new paradigms of industry-education integration in multiple technical directions, including 5G-A deterministic networks,  minimalist independent private 5G networks for new industrial scenarios, and the emerging low-altitude economy.

As a key technology for industrial digital transformation, the independent private 5G network meets the diverse requirements of industrial networks by providing connectivity as well as data collection and transmission capabilities. It incorporates core private network technologies, such as deterministic communication, large bandwidth, low latency, slicing isolation, and 5G LAN. To support talent development, dedicated courses are designed to teach students how to build private 5G networks tailored to diversified industrial application environments and how to integrate key 5G technologies with industrial applications.

Deterministic networking is a core capability of independent private 5G networks, addressing the rigid requirements of core industrial control scenarios and enabling flexible production design and orchestration. For universities, we plan to open capabilities related to service network computation under protocols such as IEEE 802.1Qcc, including air interface resource configuration and slice isolation configuration. This will provide teachers and students with a physical operational environment for deterministic network research, as well as a collaborative platform for technological innovation. Together, we aim to tackle key challenges in 5G-A deterministic network technologies, complement each other in professional expertise and talent structure, jointly cultivate urgently needed industry professionals, and empower intelligent manufacturing.

The approach to building new industrial networks has shifted significantly with the advent of independent private 5G network. Featuring deterministic connections, independent private 5G network uses the CT technology to connect the IT and OT domains. It enables real-time data collection from on-site equipment and, when integrated with low-code-based open automation systems, meets the demands of intelligent manufacturing such as higher efficiency, personalization, and green, low-carbon development. To align education with this trend, we propose providing students with practical training in building new industrial networks. This includes the deep integration of IT and OT technologies, the flexible orchestration of production lines through open automation systems, and the use of digital twin visualization to invoke real-time data of production lines. Thus, students can learn the processes and concepts of applying IT technologies in OT-driven production environments.

The production line digital twin simulation system based on an independent private 5G network obtains sensing data through the private network channel to achieve virtual mapping of the physical environment. In addition, the collected data can be used for reverse modeling, enabling simulation and verification in the early stages of industrial design. This allows for a comprehensive and accurate reproduction of equipment structures, process flows, and environmental conditions. We work with partners to provide universities with digital twin simulation systems for intelligent manufacturing production lines, along with innovative applications such as online courses, virtual training, and new forms of instructional materials. These offerings help students master core competencies in intelligent manufacturing processes, production efficiency improvement, and quality control. They also reduce dependence on physical hardware and related costs, and support a new model for virtual simulation–based intelligent manufacturing design.

Oriented to the continuous evolution of 5G networks and 5G-A technologies, and with a focus on the low-altitude economy, we collaborate with partners in the low-altitude industry chain to provide universities with research environments and practical training. Drawing on our own practical experience, we leverage the sensing capabilities of the 5G-A integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) networks to support areas such as intelligent perception and identification of drones, drone applications, and drone equipment.

In the ongoing digital and intelligent industry transformation, new industrialization serves as the strategic goal, independent private 5G networks provide the cornerstone of security, and multi-skilled talent acts as the key value enabler. ZTE continues to leverage its strengths to actively promote the integration of vocational and general education, as well as the synergy between industry and education. In collaboration with partners, ZTE is building an educational ecosystem that continuously optimizes training models for cultivating multi-skilled talent capable of integrating OT and IT. By exploring new approaches aligned with the development of the digital economy, we aim to unlock the true value of data elements and drive the transformation from traditional to intelligent manufacturing.