Registration and Networking

Welcome to the Conference

Speaker: Mark Rayner, CEO, CW (Cambridge Wireless)

Speaker: Stephen Unger, Chairman, CW (Cambridge Wireless)

Keynote: 21st Century Humanity

Chair: Julie Bradford, Managing Consultant in Wireless Techno-Eonomics, Real Wireless

Where is the human race now and where is it going? How has the information revolution impacted us, with advances in web/mobile leading to an ever more digital society? Does the utopian dream of advancement and equity come with risks and even further the economic divide?

Break and Networking

Track: Security, Identity and Privacy

Chair: Dr Jennifer Williams, Senior Speech Scientist, MyVoice AI / Research Fellow in Citizen-Centric AI Systems, University of Southampton

Our cyberspace life has already become irrevocably entwined with real life The Metaverse offers a world of even greater promise, but also, of great peril. Pirates, predators and hackers galore. How will we keep ourselves and our virtual identities safe in the mixed reality frontier we are heading into?

Communications and/or connectivity has evolved through the ages to bring us to the age of the hyper-connected individual or ‘thing’ (with and without a screen). As our senses have been exploited, from sound to sight, the platform that was mobile, is now accelerating towards a virtual, augmented reality platform where identity could not be more crucial. The Identity of Things (or IoT) and The Identity of Humans (IoH) are coalescing to create an avatar-led world, where our own digital twins are being intertwined with the digital twins of the world around us.

This track will examine the possibilities for identity being used in constructive, educational and commercially beneficial manners, but also consider how identities can be stolen, spoofed or cloned. As society becomes more interconnected, the lines between reality and virtual reality are becoming blurred to the extent where deep fakes are being used regularly in mainstream blockbusters, to the point where audiences cannot distinguish true identity. Come along to be wowed on a rollercoaster security ride, perhaps a virtual one!

Speaker: Scott Register, Vice President, Security Solutions, Keysight

Through wearables, AR, and connected healthcare devices become ubiquitous, people are increasingly reliant on nonstop, secure connectivity for health, information, and entertainment. With this great convenience comes great risk; some threats are obvious and some quite subtle. In this discussion, we’ll examine the three key links in the chain, potential weaknesses and how to secure them:
• Endpoint devices themselves
• The communication network, increasingly 5G
• Back-end cloud services
As these are often provided by different entities, standards and interoperability become important, but each of these links is subject to risks and limitations imposed by the other. In this presentation, we’ll discuss the best practices for secure design and validation at each step to ensure a trusted and reliable hyper-connected world.

Speaker: Fred Langford, Director of Trust and Safety Technology, Ofcom

What is the Online Safety Regulators Role in Security, Identity and Privacy?
Citizens have increasingly looked towards the government to develop regulation as a means to ensure they are safe from harm online. As users seek protections online Ofcom will be implementing Online Safety regulation to protect users security, Identity and Privacy whilst ensuring it is possible for platforms to surface issues on their networks. How harms manifest online vary across a variety of services and Ofcom as the Online Regulator is required to understand the ‘art of the possible’ technically. Messaging, online gaming, social media, search, virtual or augmented reality and any other services that enable user to user interaction increasingly require identity solutions to provide appropriate content to protect vulnerable users. How should identity be managed within these different services? Where is identity best placed to be most effective? Should the solution be self-sovereign, 3rd party or in-house? What are the challenges for users and platforms to implement effective identity solutions and how could these impact upon other regulation and/or protections already in place nationally and internationally? Should regulation be based upon standards or best practice? This presentation will walk through these questions from a regulators perspective to showcase some of the evidence and current and future areas of research.

Speaker: David Pollington, Head of Research, Bloc Ventures

Assembling the Scaffolding for Identity in Web3 -
Erosion in online trust is undermining the digital economy. The Internet wasn't designed with an integrated layer for digital identity, security, and privacy and as a result we're now suffering from a plethora of cybersecurity and cyberprivacy problems that risk inhibiting the wide-reaching potential of the metaverse. Evolving to a more decentralised approach to identity, returning control to users and facilitating a more trustworthy ecosystem has long been the idealists' goal. And as a vision it's great, but in practice has been facing a multitude of obstacles ranging from industry resistance and government bureaucracy through to consumer indifference. The aim of this presentation is to discuss the state of identity on the Internet, what's being done to improve the situation, the chances of its success, and the impact it may have if current efforts fail.

Speaker: Max Smith-Creasey, Security Research Specialist, BT plc

Future Authentication -
Traditionally, we have authenticated via something we know. This has led to passwords being the predominant form of authentication for many years. However, passwords leave users inconvenienced and fighting against security for usability. This leaves users reusing passwords and basing them on obvious information. More recently, we have seen a shift to biometric authentication (e.g.: via faces or fingerprints). This is a significant step forward in authentication because it is convenient, always with the user, and not dependent on user-selected information. However, there are limitations in current biometric authentication systems. The primary issue is that once unlocked, the device does not re-authenticate. Recent research has shown that continuous biometric authentication systems can collect a plethora of biometrics via device sensors (e.g.: accelerometer) to authenticate users in real-time. This presentation will discuss the concept of continuous biometric authentication and how it can be the authentication mechanism of the future.

Track: Society and Community

Chair: Paul Copping, CTO, Fawley Waterside

What does hyperconnected living look like? We continue to interconnect people and in the last few years we have seen an accelerated appetite for connected homes, hybrid working, telemedicine, smart energy and online retail. How do we evolve from these successful but disparate services to a broad societal change, in which we all share a better citizen experience, better utilisation of asset capacity, better care and health services?

This session considers the ongoing development of the connected things we use, how they are evolving in terms of intelligence, size, power and accuracy - and how developers are increasingly connected in the product life cycle.

Speaker: Moe Sani, Lead Embedded Software Engineer, Dyson

Connected Development of Connected Devices

Speaker: Eman Martin-Vignerte, Director - Political Affairs and Governmental Relations, Bosch

Plenary: Living in the Metaverse

Chair: Julie Bradford, Managing Consultant in Wireless Techno-Economics, Real Wireless

Experts have predicted that by 2030 a sizable percentage of people will ‘live in’ the metaverse somehow, but what is the metaverse and what technological developments are needed to make it a reality? How will we regulate the technology and who will govern the metaverse? How will developing technologies such as AI, 5G, XR, Web 3.0 and Distributed Ledgers combine to deliver the metaverse and what else might be needed along the way? In this session we will explore these questions and what the future of the metaverse may hold.

Speaker: Alex Rhul, Head of Metaverse Technologies, PwC

Speaker: Michelle Lim, Senior Behavioural Scientist, Cambridge Consultants

Big Questions to Unlock the Key Value of the Metaverse – As a Bridge to Reality -
The metaverse, a confluence of technologies that together deliver a spectrum of experiences, has arguably arrived. While its potential is vast, challenges abound, in particular a lack of clarity on how virtual experiences can meaningfully impact our physical, psychological, and social lives. In this talk, we identify the big questions that help us structure the space and tackle these challenges. In doing so, we'll unlock the key value of the metaverse - as a digital-physical bridge that can augment our real-world lives and even fundamentally change the way we interact with and experience the world.

Speaker: Jim Downing, CEO, Metail

The Metaverse in Fashion -
The apparel industry's early forays into the metaverse have seen virtual fashion shows, brand activations in games and lots and lots of NFTs. This only scratches the surface of what would be possible in a world where headsets and smart glasses were ubiquitous. Metail is a Cambridge-based startup that has been exploring how computer vision, 3D tech and graphics could be used to make XR useful experiences for professionals and consumers. In this presentation we'll share our work including that from the EU-sponsored eTryOn project and our research fellowship with Snap Inc. We'll share our ideas of where the metaverse could help in fashion to improve experiences, increase efficiency and sustainability both in the supply chain and for consumers.

Speaker: Alessandro Bovone, CTO North & West Europe, Nokia

Metaverse The What, The How, and The Network Impact -
The Metaverse will blend our physical and digital worlds into one. This already started in Immersive collaboration, augmented reality and virtual reality. Networks playing an increasingly important role for society and economy. Preparing for the metaverse for tremendous data growth and QoS requirements has to start today although metaverse is a long journey. Is the ability to "split the chip" as next service (r)evolution?

Panellist: Duncan Clubb, Head of Digital Infrastructure Advisory, CBRE

A Word from Lunch Sponsor

Lunch and Networking

Track: Mobility and Logistics

Chair: Charles Sturman, VP International Marketing, Huawei

The movement of people and goods has always been a fundamental human need, however, several issues are driving a fundamental re-think of what mobility means: Increasing traffic congestion, Unviability of rural public transport, Increasing demand for fast-delivery of goods, Rising fuel costs and Climate change. To address these, we are deploying new technologies, such as hyperconnectivity between vehicles, infrastructure and people, Intelligent automation and Electrification. And as a result, we are blurring the boundaries between different transport modes to deliver smart, connected, cooperative, multi-purpose mobility systems where automated vehicles transport individuals, passenger groups and goods on demand, safely, reliably and efficiently, whilst doing so in a fully carbon-neutral manner.

In this session, we will discuss the drivers for this vision but also look at key requirements and challenges, such as vehicle connectivity, smart roads, sensor fusion, electric powertrain, smart grid, functional safety and vehicle cyber security. We will also consider new uses cases and business models, such as mobility as a service, on-demand robotized delivery, future human to vehicle interfaces, on-demand transport pods and smart fleet management.

Speaker: Matthew Napleton, CCO, Zizo

Hyperconnected & Hyper-Delivered – The Change From ‘Last Mile’ to ‘Last Metre’ -
Hyperconnected mobility and the automated and accelerated movement of people, items and goods will ultimately change the way that we interact with our environment, our suppliers and with each other. This will all be driven by data, most importantly of all, location data. But where does this data come from? From devices, from the hyperconnected human, from vehicles and cities themselves. How do we combine this data into something that is usable, flexible and fast enough to meet this rapid development and change in our society? Some key challenges arise: How do we capture more data, how do we improve the speed of that data across the networks and most importantly, how do we gain the trust of those allowing us to use their data and allow us to make the change to becoming ‘hyper connected’?

Speaker: Anna Jordan, Co-Founder & Head of Operations, Alchera Data Technologies

The Future of Data-Driven Infrastructure -
Data-Driven Infrastructure (DDI) is an emerging trend across transport, mobility and the built environment. Infrastructure owners and operators - from local authorities to major transit organisations - require ever more dynamic and evolving tools to support the design, build, operation and maintenance of complex infrastructure - from planning and delivering mega-projects like the Lower Thames Crossing all the way to Bus Service Improvement plans across the country. In this talk, Anna will outline the key challenges that are driving the adoption of Data-Driven Infrastructure approaches and the subsequent value of real-time data analysis and making data consumable for decision making. Using current live case studies in the UK - from the M25 to Cambridgeshire - she will highlight the actionable ways in which software tools, machine learning and data science can support and improve decision-makers’ outcomes - from owners to control room operators.

Speaker: Jon Williams, Chief Commercial Officer, Zedify

The Mesh City. The Urban Logistics Revolution Starts Here -
Urban logistics is broken. First, only, and last mile deliveries are carried on different vehicles that aren't fit for purpose. Siloed systems and oversupply in the market creates underutilisation. Ever increasing demand is compounding the issue. Congestion and air quality are in free fall, and the negative impact on cities is immense. Mesh City is the counterpoint. Hyperconnectivity and AI is used to dismantle the boundaries that breed inefficiency. A smart, connected, cooperative, multi-purpose delivery system is created, 'borders' between services and geographies are removed. AI figures out, in real-time, the optimal distribution of tasks across the available resources, meaning that routes are geared around efficiency. The number of vehicles required and the movements they make are reduced, thereby improving air quality and minimising congestion.

Panellist: Adam Tindall, Partner, Appleyard Lees

Track: Hyperconnected Entertainment

Chair: David Crawford, Emeritus Professor, Ravensbourne University London, Ravensbourne
Chair: Nadia Aziz, Innovation Consultant, Unbounded Future Ltd

The hyper-connected humans of today have a huge array of games and pass-times available for entertainment and relaxation.

For the hyper-active, there are on-line training routines that can be joined in virtual locations around the world; and on the other side of the bitcoin, for the digital ‘couch potato’, there is an array of immersive and interactive experiences available for hyper-connected entertainment, all at the touch of a button. Sports and theatre fans can share, in real-time, the excitement of matches and shows, from the best virtual seats in the house. What are the latest technologies and techniques in virtual production, that can create these multi-dimensional audio/video experiences so realistically? How are multi-user games engines and the present generation of extended reality headsets supporting/limiting these developments?

Hyperconnectivity extends the opportunities for ever more innovation and commercial applications in the entertainment ecosphere. And now the metaverse is approaching - enabling content consumers to further share and adapt their hyperconnected virtual worlds for wider experiences and deeper social interaction. Will storytelling’s foundations in the written word and illustrations be displaced by the like of Star Trek’s Holodeck and the metaverse’s network of 3D virtual world experiences.

Speaker: Dr Richard A. Bartle, Hon. Prof. of Computer Game Design, University of Essex

Hyper-Connected Entertainment -
Massively-multiplayer online role-playing games have been around for decades, connecting millions of people around the globe to virtual worlds. The effects of this are by now well known: economies of scale mean that some truly amazing worlds can be created, but the impact that individual players have is less than negligible. There is a danger that rather than bringing individual players together, hyper-connectivity actually isolates them. There are solutions, though – which will work for other online forms of community beyond entertainment.

Speaker: Kirk Woolford, Associate Professor of Creative Industries, Anglia Ruskin University

Anything You Can Imagine: Text to Image AI for Film/TV Previsualization -
Imagine large Roman gladiator battle in the Colosseum, hyper realistic, dirt, dust, swords, sandals, 16:9, close up, GoPro. If you type this to the Midjourney bot on Discord, in a matter of seconds, it will generate 4 images rivaling any scene from 300 Spartans. The Midjourney AI bot has been trained on hundreds of thousands of images and can generate images based on text phrases and/or images. It is one of several systems challenging the role of illustrators and visual artists. This presentation will introduce three of the most advanced AI image generators, Midjourney, Stable Diffusion, and Dalle2, and discuss how they were used in the commissioning of a drama-documentary series for US television.

Speaker: Timi Salako, Technical Lead (Canterbury Christ Church University UK Hub), Hi3 Network (European Regional Development Fund) Project

Future Aspirations for Immersive Technology -
Background on the Hi3 Project, the technology offerings of the project, getting the studios networked, and research into (and future aspirations for) immersive technology.

Speaker: Luciana Haill, Artist and Consciousness Researcher

Plenary: Health and Wellbeing

Chair: Edwina Mullins, Digital & Marketing Consultant, Plextek

Innovation in medical technology is transforming the global healthcare landscape with unprecedented speed, engendering the most fundamental changes in a generation. The medical technologies shaping our future will fundamentally change the way in which every-day healthcare is delivered to us, such as sensor applications, wearable technology, enhanced communication systems and virtual reality, which will radically improve healthcare delivery and user experience.

Not just for the hyper-active and health-conscious, wellbeing programmes could enhance the quality of life for the infirm and support our ageing population. A healthcare system that is accessible from anywhere with new care models creates a blur between medical industries, technologies and services. This has the potential to democratise healthcare provision, improving outcomes and patient experience. With the added benefit of VR training for healthcare professionals, new immersive technologies are paving the way for a more efficient healthcare service.

However, there are inherent challenges to overcome, like the approach of governments, regulators, and society towards this new digital healthcare model. Roe vs Wade is the most recent example of cause and effect from Government decisions, with the mass deletion in the US of valuable health data due to privacy concerns. If the dilemma of data is resolved, a digital and preventative-focused healthcare landscape could enable more medical access to the vulnerable and combat the great societal issue of lifestyle diseases.

Speaker: Steven Bagshaw, Head of Business Strategy, CPI

Speaker: Amir Bozorgzadeh, Co-Founder and CEO, Virtuleap

The Intersection of the Neurosciences and Virtual Reality -
The state of Virtual Reality, its intersection with neurosciences, and how this emerging technology offers unprecedented opportunities and critical applications for the healthcare and education sectors.

Speaker: Alex Stokoe, Neurotechnology Consultant and Dr Hannah Claridge, Neurotechnology Consultant, TTP plc
Neurotechnology: The Future of Connected Medicine is Here Today -
Instant and remote delivery of a digital prescription to a patient's implant is not a science fiction; this is the reality for today's cutting edge neurotech devices. Bioelectronic medicine is displacing traditional pharmaceuticals by delivering precision electrical stimulus to your nervous system to address a plethora of conditions. In session you will learn about: What is neurotechnology and how is it revolutionising therapies in a connected digital world? How are cutting-edge communications technologies driving innovation in patient care? What are the barriers to adoption and can overcoming the technical challenges help those suffering from conditions from depression to rheumatoid arthritis?

Break and Networking

Closing Keynote: Technology Convergence and Human Transcendence

Chair: Julie Bradford, Managing Consultant in Wireless Techno-Economics, Real Wireless

Speaker: David Birch, Author, Advisor and Commentator

Given the multiplicity of tech streams that abound today such as AI, neuromorphic, XR, Cloud, Edge, Data, Blockchain, etc. how will all this converge to deliver this next human evolution – which some commentators believe will represent the same size step as the evolution of humanity from apes!

Closing Remarks

Chair: Julie Bradford, Managing Consultant in Wireless Techno-Economics, Real Wireless

Speaker: Mark Rayner, CEO, CW (Cambridge Wireless)

Reception Drinks

End of Conference