CHEDDAR Hub Represents the UK at India – UK ‘Future of Telecom’ Roundtable

The CHEDDAR Hub, alongside the TITAN and JOINER Hubs, was invited to the High Commission of India in London on 3 December 2025 to take part in a high-level roundtable on the Future of Telecom, a core pillar of the India–UK Technology Security Initiative.

CHEDDAR was represented by Dr Poonam Yadav and Prof Julie McCann, who contributed to strategic discussions on strengthening collaboration between the UK and India in advanced telecommunications and digital infrastructure. Hosted by High Commissioner Vikram Doraiswami and moderated by Prof Gerard Parr, the session brought together leading experts in next-generation networks, including Prof Dimitra Simeonidou, Prof Harald Haas, Manjari Govada, Kaushik Subramanyan, and Lincoln Heilner.

Discussions explored AI-native telecom, LiFi, Open RAN, resilient network architectures, and the evolution of 5G and 6G-enabled digital ecosystems. For CHEDDAR, the event highlighted significant opportunities to deepen UK–India partnerships in trustworthy, secure, and sustainable communication technologies—central to the Hub’s research mission.

The invitation was also personally meaningful for Dr Yadav, whose PhD was funded through one of the earliest India–UK initiatives (UKIERI). Returning in a leadership role to help shape the next phase of collaboration underscored the long-term impact of sustained bilateral engagement.

Overall, the roundtable reinforced growing momentum behind India–UK cooperation in telecom innovation and the relevance of CHEDDAR’s work in informing future policy, research, and technical standards.