As 5G becomes a new driver of productivity and gives rise to more immersive consumer applications, more efforts are needed to explore the potential of 5.5G technology in value creation, said Meng Wanzhou, rotating chairwoman and chief financial officer of Huawei Technologies Co on Wednesday.

5.5G technology, as an evolution of 5G, features 10-gigabit downlink speeds, gigabit uplink speeds and the ability to support 100 billion connections, said Meng at the ongoing Mobile World Congress Shanghai 2023.

"5G has been in commercial use around the world for four years now. It's driving new value creation, and 5.5G is the next step forward," said Meng. "Science and technology are moving towards large, complex systems. This requires matching technology to specific scenarios and performing systems engineering, in order to pave the way for 5G's ongoing success."

According to her, 5.5G is the next step forward for 5G. 5.5G will not only better connect people– it will also create incredible new business opportunities with more targeted support for industrial needs in domains like IoT, sensing and advanced manufacturing.

The ladder to success isn't built on ongoing progress with a single technology. It's built on matching technology to specific scenarios and real-world needs. And systems engineering is key to taking the next step up, Meng said.

According to her, systematic capabilities to integrate technology and transform management are critical for the future success of 5G.

Meng spoke about two specific types of integrated capabilities. "The first is integrating different technologies. We can achieve greater synergy across cloud, networks, edge and devices through systematic design and cross-domain innovation. When coupled with optimization across software, hardware, chips and algorithms, we can address the challenges associated with developing complex solutions for vastly different industrial scenarios."

"The second," she continued, "is the ability to integrate different approaches to management. Digital and intelligent transformation is not just about technology itself. It's more about transforming your approach to management. Going digital requires redefining the relationships between people, events, things and theory, and adopting a more open, forward-looking management approach to address future challenges."

Meng said: "Information technologies like 5G, 5.5G, AI and cloud will help us rise with the tide and take us forward to an intelligent world. The best scenery is always ahead. Let's create a bright future together."