Advanced connectivity is evolving from infrastructure to strategic advantage - powering AI, edge intelligence, sovereign capability, and next-generation digital industries.
The Federated Telecoms Hubs (FTH) and JOINER play a pivotal role in strengthening the UK’s world-leading research landscape, offering industry a wide range of opportunities for innovation and collaboration. By bringing together diverse skills and expertise, these platforms help unlock meaningful commercial value that benefits both industry and society.
Realising this potential requires stronger collaboration between industry and academia, targeted investment, clear market alignment of research activities, and structured co-development pathways that turn breakthrough ideas into deployable, revenue-generating solutions.
About the Workshop
This interactive workshop offers industry leaders, investors, technology partners, and innovation stakeholders an opportunity to:
• Engage one of the world’s largest research ecosystems in advanced connectivity technologies
• Discover proven innovations emerging from the UK’s world-leading connectivity research base
• Explore cutting-edge innovations and proof-of-concept projects
• Learn how to collaborate effectively with FTH & JOINER to accelerate market-ready outcomes
• Share insights to shape future developments within FTH and JOINER – strengthening the impact of research and experimentation.
About FTH
FTH catalyses telecoms innovation and provides industry and investors with access to one of the world’s largest research ecosystems in advanced connectivity technologies.
The programme encompasses four national research hubs - CHEDDAR, HASC, JOINER and TITAN, dedicated to cutting-edge research and experimentation.
CHEDDAR - Headed by Imperial College London, with partner Universities including the Universities of Cranfield, Durham, Glasgow, Leeds and York, the CHEDDAR hub is developing future communications infrastructures that are safe, secure, trustworthy and sustainable in preparation for the introduction of 6G standards.
HASC - With the University of Oxford at its head, and connecting seven core institutions from across the UK, HASC is working out how to integrate separate wired fibre and wireless internet access systems into a single resource, creating an “all spectrum” path for connectivity.
JOINER - Established and led by the University of Bristol, JOINER provides an international platform where industry and SMEs can de risk advanced connectivity technologies through neutral, end to end system experimentation and evidence based validation. It accelerates commercialisation by assembling and testing full systems at scale, producing benchmarks and reference solutions that reduce integration risk and accelerate market adoption
TITAN - Led by the University of Cambridge, the hub is designing a seamless, open, and fully integrated ‘network of networks’ which will enable connections between terrestrial and non-terrestrial networks – laying the groundwork for the greater level of complex connectivity that 6G will enable.
FTH and JOINER are backed by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and receive significant funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).