TITAN Director Harald Haas at PICTFOR Annual Dinner Event

Professor Harald Haas, Director of TITAN and Co-Director of the Federated Telecoms Hubs (FTH), delivered an insightful speech at the recent Parliamentary Internet, Communications and Technology Forum (PICTFOR) annual dinner…

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Professor Harald Haas, Director of TITAN and Co-Director of the Federated Telecoms Hubs (FTH), delivered an insightful speech at the recent Parliamentary Internet, Communications and Technology Forum (PICTFOR) annual dinner event held on 27 November 2024 at the House of Lords. FTH Co-Director Professor Julie McCann was also a part of the event and played an influential role in engaging senior government stakeholders with the output produced by the hubs.

The event, themed “AI and Skills for an Inclusive Future,” brought together parliamentarians and senior industry representatives to celebrate the achievements of the sector in 2024 and look ahead to the priorities and opportunities of 2025. Professor Haas’s speech was a key highlight, emphasising the importance of continued investment in telecoms research and development to ensure the UK’s prosperity in the fast-growing global market.

He spoke alongside Baroness Neville-Rolfe MP (Shadow Treasury Minister), Alan Mak MP (Shadow Secretary of State for Science, Innovation, and Technology) Peter Kyle MP (Secretary of State for Science, Innovation, & Technology), Samantha Niblett MP and David Black (Senior Director, Google UK).

In his address, Professor Haas highlighted the monumental impact of the mobile industry, which contributed $5.7 trillion to the global economy last year, representing 5.4% of the global GDP. He also underscored the mobile ecosystem’s role in creating 19 million direct jobs and 16 million indirect jobs, positioning connectivity as a central utility akin to water and energy.

Highlighting the UK’s strength in telecoms

Professor Haas discussed the global efforts to define the 6th generation of mobile networks (6G) and praised the UK’s strong research outputs in telecoms. He highlighted the UK government’s £40 million investment in four telecoms hubs, detailing the initiatives led by prominent researchers at the University of Cambridge, University of Bristol, Imperial College London and University of Oxford. TITAN, under Professor Haas’s leadership, is pioneering work in network intelligence, user-centric service-aware radio access control, optical wireless systems, fibre-enabled connectivity, non-terrestrial networks and emerging quantum networks.

He also emphasised several key points in his speech:

  • Everyone in the UK should have equally cutting-edge access to advanced connectivity infrastructures, driving trusted digital transformation for all.
  • The UK boasts a rich telecoms SME ecosystem, with at least 50% of UK-born telecoms technologies and solutions deployed by infrastructure owners, and aims to have at least one Unicorn company in the telecoms space.
  • The UK is world-leading in end-to-end hyper-converged telco networks, leveraging the latest advances in network technologies (including quantum), computation, and Artificial Intelligence, and achieving net-zero targets for and through networks.
  • UK research institutions and the telecoms industry are leaders in the generation and commercialisation/exploitation of IP and IPR in telecoms, thereby shaping global standards.
  • The UK maintains the most advanced national telecoms research infrastructure in the world, attracting investments from multinationals and venture capital firms.
  • The UK telecoms sector will grow and expand through home-grown talent and skills, offering the most advanced and agile educational programs in telecoms globally.
  • The UK is committed to maintaining leadership in telecoms regulation and policy.

 

FTH Co-Directors Professor Harald Haas and Professor Julie McCann.

FTH Co-Directors Professor Harald Haas and Professor Julie McCann.

 

He concluded by highlighting the Federated Hubs’ seven missions, which aim to drive digital transformation, foster a rich UK telecoms SME ecosystem, and maintain the UK’s leadership in telecoms research and regulation. Professor Haas stressed the importance of continued investment in telecoms research and development to ensure the UK’s prosperity in the fast-growing global market.

The PICTFOR Annual Dinner is the forum’s most prestigious event of the year, providing a platform for key stakeholders to reaffirm their commitment to the role technology can play in driving growth and innovation. The event was attended by numerous Members of the House of Lords, and the House of Commons, industry leaders, directors and founders. Professor Haas’s participation underscored TITAN’s pivotal role in shaping the future of telecommunications and its commitment to advancing research and innovation in the sector.

If you have any questions about the contents of this article, please contact titan-enquiries@eng.cam.ac.uk