DCMS is requesting those with an interest in R&D opportunities (including participation in any future funding competitions) around UK communication supply chain diversification to register their interest in advance.
The UK’s 5G Supply Chain Diversification Strategy sets out a plan to improve diversity in the supply chain and address the market failure in the telecoms access supply market. DCMS note:-
“The government recognises the need to move at pace and to ensure the process of diversification gathers momentum as quickly as possible and has committed an initial investment of £250m to kick off work on its key priorities. This includes investment in R&D to accelerate the technical development of high performance open-interface technologies such as Open RAN, and boost the availability of viable, open new entrants into the UK market”
Photonics provides the key connectivity though-out the communications network including right up to the mast in Open RAN and 5G deployment. The PLG have an active telecoms sub-group working with multiple agencies to define opportunities, contact us if you would like to be involved and register your interest direct with DCMS on participation in future R&D projects and opportunities as soon as possible.
Those interest in the space are also recommended to review the anticipated upcoming call sin the Horizon Europe programme (drafts of which are available, from sciencebusiness.net e.g. under the Digital Industry and Space cluster).
Innovate UK’s ‘IETF energy efficiency and decarbonisation studies” competition is also currently open (closing 14 July) with £40m to award to those carrying out feasibility and high TRL engineering studies into energy efficiency / decarbonisation technologies for industrial processes. Innovations reducing data centre energy consumption are explicitly identified in the scope.
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