In an era where national security, digital sovereignty, and infrastructure resilience are more critical than ever, the TITAN Network of Networks Accelerator webinar, aligned with the UK government’s recent Strategic…
In an era where national security, digital sovereignty, and infrastructure resilience are more critical than ever, the TITAN Network of Networks Accelerator webinar, aligned with the UK government’s recent Strategic Defence Review, emphasising the protection of the UK’s critical national infrastructure, provided a timely and in-depth look into the communications technologies of tomorrow.
Held on 18 July 2025, the event brought together academic researchers, government stakeholders, and industry leaders to explore how next-generation communications—from quantum encryption to optical wireless and non-terrestrial networks—can secure the UK’s future infrastructure across defence, space, and civil applications.
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Dr. Henrik Almeida, Head of Ericsson Research UK, opened the discussion with a compelling keynote on why resilience, trust, and secure-by-design principles must underpin the 6G era. He highlighted the UK’s unique strengths in AI, quantum, and photonics as critical enablers for globally competitive telecoms innovation.
Dr Almeida painted a vivid picture of the infrastructure landscape ahead: one where communications networks will need to operate seamlessly across land, air, sea, and space — and do so under conditions of extreme complexity and risk. “We are entering a new era of networked systems,” he said, “where trust, security, and resilience must be designed in from the ground up, from the chip to the cloud.”
His remarks underscored how the next generation of infrastructure won’t be defined solely by speed or coverage, but by its ability to withstand the unexpected, whether that’s a cyberattack, a jamming event, or environmental disruption. Drawing on the UK’s national strengths in AI, photonics, quantum, and secure hardware design, Dr Almeida issued a clear call to action: collaborative research between industry and academia must accelerate, not only to future-proof our networks but to ensure strategic autonomy and global competitiveness.
This theme of research-driven resilience was echoed in the Research Showcase, where leading academics from across the TITAN programme presented cutting-edge work that is poised to reshape how we communicate in the most demanding environments. The presentations discussed deployable, demonstrable systems that tackle real-world problems. From quantum-secure fibre communications to turbulence mitigators for satellite links, and from underwater optical sensing networks to physical-layer encryption systems, TITAN researchers showed how the UK is not just participating in future infrastructure conversations; it is helping to define them.
Each project spoke directly to national infrastructure priorities: secure multi-domain communications for defence, robust fibre networks protected by quantum key distribution, and new waveforms to support sustainable, high-speed non-terrestrial networks.
Professor Wasiu Popoola (University of Edinburgh) presented a vision for sensing and communication systems in underwater and aerial environments, building resilience through ISAC-enabled optical wireless.
Professor Sujan Rajbhandari (University of Strathclyde) focused on solar-blind UV micro-LEDs that enable communication in extreme conditions while filtering out solar interference.
Professor Periklis Petropoulos (University of Southampton) introduced how both power and data can be delivered through a single optical fibre, significantly improving resilience during power outages.
Dr. Roger Giddings (Bangor University) spoke on developing a real-time physical layer network security prototypes for heterogeneously converged networks, offering quantum-safe data transmission in the face of sophisticated cyber attacks.
Professor Zilong Liu (University of Essex) explained the development of resilient waveforms for sustainable, scalable non-terrestrial and terrestrial 6G systems.
Professor Reza Nakhai (King’s College London) discussed quantum private access, aiming to increase trustworthiness in distributed networks.
Professor Lajos Hanzo (University of Southampton) illustrated the need for physical-layer security systems deployable in real-time and applicable to converged networks.
The panel discussion, moderated by Anvar Tukmanov of BT, brought these themes into sharper focus within the industry. Panellists from Dstl, UK Telecoms Lab, Accelercomm, and leading universities debated what it means to operationalise resilience.
There was a sobering moment when Jon Spencer of Dstl raised concerns about subsea cable vulnerabilities, often overlooked but central to national security and economic continuity.
Bridgette Bigmore, CTO of UKTL, spoke about the practical hurdles in embedding secure design principles across vast and ageing infrastructure estates, and the opportunity that lies in cross-sector testbeds to trial emerging technologies.
“We need to move beyond incremental security updates and start thinking about security as a fundamental property of the network fabric,” Ms Bigmore said.
Professor Rob Maunder of Accelercomm pointed to the commercial tension between performance and resilience, arguing that with new approaches to error correction and waveform design, we no longer have to choose between them.
The discussion moved seamlessly between satellite link security, quantum interoperability, hardware trust anchors, and industrial use-case deployment — mirroring the multi-domain challenge at the heart of TITAN’s mission.
For professionals in telecoms, defence, satellite, and quantum infrastructure, the webinar offered practical direction and collaboration opportunities, including:
Engagement with deployable demonstrators to test resilience in real-world conditions.
Early access to novel waveforms, encryption methods, and sensing capabilities that can enhance next-gen network offerings.
Opportunities to co-develop use cases across maritime, aerospace, national security, and critical infrastructure domains.
Policy-aligned insights to shape regulation and funding frameworks that support sovereign communications capability.
Across the event, one idea remained constant: if we want communications networks that are not only high-performing but unbreakable under pressure, we must invest in cross-cutting, forward-looking research now. This is where TITAN can be a convening force, a testbed for new ideas, and a national resource for technology transfer at scale. The tools to build safer, more secure networks already exist. What’s needed now is co-investment, collaboration, and bold thinking to bring them into the field.
To join upcoming sessions or connect with researchers and mini-project leads, reach out to our team at titan-enquiries@eng.cam.ac.uk.
