The LiFi Research and Development Centre (LRDC) Announced A Landmark Event For The UK's Telecommunications Sector: The Federated Telecoms Hubs (FTH) Advanced Connectivity Showcase

Exclusive 1 December event will unite nearly 50 cutting-edge projects from Britain's leading research hubs with industry leaders and investors

The LiFi Research and Development Centre (LRDC) has announced a landmark event for the UK's telecommunications sector: the Federated Telecoms Hubs (FTH) Advanced Connectivity Showcase, taking place at The Science Museum, London on 1 December 2025. Designed specifically for industry leaders and investors, this high-impact exposition will provide unprecedented access to the UK's advanced connectivity research ecosystem, featuring cutting-edge innovation from almost 50 projects spanning the CHEDDAR Hub, HASC Telecoms Hub, JOINER Platform, and TITAN Telecoms Hub.

Five Innovation Domains Shaping Tomorrow's Networks

The showcase will present pioneering research and development across five critical domains that are defining the future of telecommunications:

Intelligent Networks: Attendees will discover how artificial intelligence, semantic communications, and integrated sensing technologies are fundamentally redefining connectivity capabilities. These innovations are transforming networks from passive infrastructure into intelligent systems capable of adapting to user needs in real time.

Advanced Wireless & Optical: The event will explore groundbreaking developments in Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces (RIS), Optical Wireless Communication (OWC), and fibre technologies. These breakthroughs promise to power tomorrow's ultra-fast communication links, delivering speeds and reliability that surpass current capabilities.

Future-Ready Infrastructure: Demonstrations will reveal how Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN) and quantum convergence are shaping the next generation of resilient network infrastructure. These technologies are critical for creating networks that remain robust in challenging conditions and can adapt to evolving demands.

Secure & Sustainable Systems: Presentations will highlight how advances in energy efficiency and sophisticated security protocols are enabling trusted, environmentally responsible connectivity solutions. As networks expand globally, balancing performance with sustainability and security has become paramount.

JOINER National Testbed: Participants will have the opportunity to engage with the JOINER team and learn how to utilize their open experimental platform for future networks research, development, and innovation. The platform features three core virtual facilities: a national spectrum facility for testing across frequency bands, a non-terrestrial-network emulation facility for satellite and aerial network research, and an AI Acceleration Facility for developing intelligent network solutions.

Bridging Research and Commercialisation

This exclusive event will convene world-class academics, industry representatives, government officials, and investors with a shared goal: accelerating the commercialisation of cutting-edge communications research. The gathering represents a strategic opportunity for meaningful collaboration between researchers at the forefront of telecoms innovation and the stakeholders who can transform these technologies into market-ready solutions.

The showcase format allows industry participants to engage directly with research teams, evaluate technologies in demonstration, and identify partnership opportunities that could fast-track promising innovations from laboratory to marketplace.

The Federated Telecoms Hubs: A Unified Force for Innovation

The Federated Telecoms Hubs (FTH) represents an unprecedented alliance of over 27 leading UK universities and research institutions united in driving breakthrough telecommunications innovation. With significant funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and backing from the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), FTH connects four premier research hubs: CHEDDAR, HASC, JOINER, and TITAN.

What distinguishes FTH from traditional academic research networks is its distinctly commercial orientation. The organization champions a "patents before papers" philosophy that prioritizes intellectual property protection and commercial viability alongside academic publication. This approach ensures that promising discoveries are protected and positioned for market entry before being shared in the public domain.

FTH provides proof-of-concept funding to bridge the critical gap between laboratory research and market-ready solutions—often the most challenging phase of technology development. Additionally, the organization actively shapes international standards that will govern next-generation telecommunications systems, ensuring UK research influences the global frameworks within which future technologies will operate.

This comprehensive approach is accelerating the translation of fundamental research into practical applications, positioning the UK at the forefront of global telecoms innovation and ensuring British research institutions maintain their competitive advantage in developing the technologies that will define future connectivity.

A Pivotal Moment for UK Telecoms

The FTH Advanced Connectivity Showcase arrives at a critical juncture for the telecommunications industry. As global demand for bandwidth continues to surge, traditional infrastructure approaches face limitations in capacity, deployment speed, and environmental impact. The technologies being developed within the FTH ecosystem offer solutions to these challenges, from optical wireless systems that bypass spectrum congestion to AI-driven networks that optimize resource allocation in real time.

For industry leaders, the event offers insight into technologies that could provide competitive advantages in coming years. For investors, it presents opportunities to identify high-potential innovations backed by rigorous research and commercial pathways. For government representatives, the showcase demonstrates the strength of UK research capabilities and the potential for British leadership in global telecoms markets.

Registration and Participation

Industry leaders, investors, government representatives, and academic researchers interested in exploring the latest advances in telecommunications technology can register for this exclusive event at: https://lnkd.in/eVtcQne2

The FTH Advanced Connectivity Showcase represents a rare convergence of nearly 50 cutting-edge projects in a single venue, offering participants the opportunity to witness the breadth of UK telecoms research, engage directly with the teams developing tomorrow's connectivity solutions, and forge partnerships that could accelerate the journey from laboratory to global deployment. With the UK's telecoms research ecosystem demonstrating unprecedented collaboration and commercial focus, this event promises to highlight technologies that will shape the future of global communications—and the strategic positioning of those who bring them to market.

Image Credit to UKTIN