FTH Advanced Connectivity Showcase: A Milestone Moment for UK Telecommunications Innovation

On 1 December 2025, leaders from industry, academia, government, and investment gathered at the iconic Science Museum in London for the Federated Telecoms Hubs (FTH) Advanced Connectivity Showcase. This high-impact exhibition brought to life the collective vision of the UK’s connectivity research ecosystem, uniting more than 35 universities and the four leading hubs – CHEDDAR, TITAN, JOINER and HASC.

From emerging wireless technologies to AI-native networks and secure architectures, the event highlighted how collaborative research is accelerating innovation and enabling market-ready solutions that will shape the future of 6G and beyond.

A Dynamic Exhibition of Breakthroughs Across Five Domains

Visitors explored innovations across five core FTH research themes:

• Advanced Radio Systems & Spectrum Innovation
• AI-Native Networks & Automation
• Emerging Technologies & Frontier Communication
• Next-Generation Network Architectures
• Security, Privacy & Trust

With more than 70 posters, demonstrations, prototypes, and interactive discussions, the exhibition created a rich environment for in-depth conversations, technology exploration, and the forging of new partnerships.

Expert Voices: A Community Driving Real-World Impact

Throughout the day, speakers and attendees expressed strong enthusiasm for the momentum building across the FTH programme.

Professor Julie McCann, Director of CHEDDAR, reflected on the collaborative energy in the room:

“It was encouraging to see collaborative ideas emerging across the hubs, with teams showcasing innovative demonstrations that highlighted both the depth and the diversity of research within the FTH community. The energy in the room reflected a strong appetite for partnership and real-world impact, showing how far we’ve come in bringing industry, academia, and technology together.”

Professor Muhammad Ali Imran highlighted the strength of the collective vision on display:

“The exhibition was an excellent opportunity to see the joint vision of all the hubs articulated so clearly, spanning the Physical Layer, Networking Layer and Applications, with each area mapped to the strengths of the individual hubs.”

He also praised the engagement between researchers, start-ups, and industry stakeholders:

“It was encouraging to see colleagues increasingly engaging with the business feasibility and commercial potential of their ideas, in addition to the core technical merits. The poster and demo format created deeper, more focused interactions with visitors, prospective partners, and collaborators.”

Insights From CHEDDAR Researchers

The CHEDDAR community showcased a broad range of innovations, from semantic communication and next-generation network optimisation to intelligent edge systems and energy-efficient connectivity.

One CHEDDAR researcher reflected on the strong response to their work:

“The standardisation officer introduced me to investors who are very interested in discussing further. This gives me more confidence to explore commercialisation pathways for my patents and future spinout opportunities.”

They also spoke about how their research meets real-world needs:

“My research can be very useful for video streaming services through the licensing route. Goal-oriented semantic communication can reduce transmitted data while improving application performance, substantially lowering energy and network costs. This is key to making 6G networks more sustainable.”

 

Industry Perspectives: What Will Matter in the Next 2–5 Years?

Professor Marco Di Renzo shared insights into which technological directions are emerging as the most transformative, pointing to Joint Sensing and Communications, Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces, Electromagnetic Neural Networks and Physical Neural Networks, with all these leading to an integration of Communication, Sensing, and Computing that is expected to deliver major impact across sectors in the coming years.

Expanding Networks, Strengthening Collaboration

Dr Massud A.M. Tota Khel emphasised the importance of the event in shaping future collaborations:

“It was an excellent event that allowed us to showcase our research, expand our network, and clearly demonstrated the growing importance of federated telecoms.”

He added:

“It brought together academics, researchers, industry partners, and standardisation bodies, highlighting strong collaboration and the practical relevance of the FTH approach.”

Discussions throughout the day confirmed growing momentum around scalable AI in IoT, sustainable connectivity systems, and pathways for commercial translation.

A Showcase That Moves the Sector Forward

With its mix of visionary research, practical demonstrations, and cross-sector dialogue, the FTH Advanced Connectivity Showcase demonstrated the power of a federated national ecosystem working toward a shared goal: enabling secure, intelligent, sustainable connectivity for the UK and global markets.

For CHEDDAR and its partner hubs, the event marked a major step forward strengthening relationships, inspiring new ideas, and illuminating the commercial and societal potential of next-generation communications.