The CELTIC-NEXT programme supports innovative business research and development of the next generation of telecommunications services.

It is part of the EUREKA inter-governmental network that promotes innovation across national borders in Europe and beyond.

Innovate UK, as part of UK Research and Innovation, has up to £2 million from the CELTIC-NEXT programme to support UK companies working with partners in this country and overseas on new 5G technologies.

5G is the next generation of mobile networks. It could be 100 times faster than 4G and opens the possibility of many new products and services across large areas of the economy that were not possible before.

The competition aims to help UK organisations to work with others on an international programme to develop new 5G infrastructure and services.

Projects could include:

• development of innovative 5G infrastructure technologies that use artificial intelligence
• applications and services that use 5G to offer new or improved user experiences
• 5G features in satellites or 5G applications and services that use satellites

Applications and services must focus on 1 or more of the Internet of Things, the tactile internet, mission critical applications, infotainment and immersive technologies.

##Competition information

• the competition opens on 14 October 2019, and the deadline for applications is at midday UK time on 11 December 2019
• businesses of any size may apply
• projects must include at least 1 UK SME and at least 1 organisation from a EUREKA country
• projects must submit a CELTIC proposal before applying to the competition
• we expect projects to range in size between £400,000 and £2.5 million
• a London briefing event will be held on 10 October 2019

Azeem Akhtar

Azeem Akhtar, is currently Chief Technology Officer at BT Global where he engages with multi-national clients at C-Level to articulate BT’s vision for digital transformation to deliver the client’s desired business outcomes. After graduating from King’s College London in Mathematics and Business Management, Azeem went on to complete a Masters in Sea-Use Law, Economics and Policy Making at The London School of Economics.

He commenced his professional career working first in the oil and gas industry before moving into the telecommunications industry just as the dot.com era was really taking off. Azeem has held senior commercial, finance, business development and technology leadership roles to date and has extensive international experience where he has utilised his multi-lingual skills.

A committed sportsman, Azeem plays cricket, football, squash and tennis and is a die-hard Liverpool FC supporter. He currently holds a non-executive director role as Chairman of Active Essex and passionately leads the charge against physical inactivity to improve the quality of life for all people, of all ages in Essex.

In 2016, Azeem was named in the UK’s Top 100 Most Influential BAME Business Leaders. Azeem is married with 3 children.

Tove Okunniwa

Tove Okunniwa is Chief Executive Officer of London Sport, an ‘Active Partnership’ dedicated to making London the most active city in the world, funded by Sport England and the Mayor of London. She has a background in strategic marketing and content creation, with extensive experience in both commercial and non-profit sectors. Previously, she led two successful sport and entertainment marketing agencies, WPP owned MEC Access and Havas Sports & Entertainment.

Prior to this, Tove spent 10 years at the BBC in senior brand marketing roles, including Head of Marketing at BBC Sport and during which time she completed an Executive MBA. Her career started in the Arts at the London Symphony Orchestra and the South Bank Centre.

She is a long-time Trustee of Catch 22, a leading social business and a Non-Executive Director of England Boxing.

David Mahoney

David is currently Chief Operating Officer at the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). Prior to this, he oversaw the strategy, insights, HR, integrity and public policy teams as ECB’s Chief Strategy Officer.

Before joining ECB, David held a number of senior roles at Ofcom, the UK communications regulator, including Director of Policy and Chief Advisor to its CEO. He was also seconded into Government in 2009 as a Director of the Digital Britain Report, which examined the transformational nature of digital technologies and the policy responses needed as a result.

A qualified lawyer who specialised in competition and media law before joining Ofcom, David is a keen sports fan who enjoys cricket and golf as well as following West Ham United.

–

These roles are remunerated at £218 per day. This reappointment has been made in accordance with the Cabinet Office’s Governance Code on Public Appointments. The process is regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments. The Government’s Governance Code requires that any significant political activity undertaken by an appointee in the last five years is declared. This is defined as including holding office, public speaking, making a recordable donation or candidature for election. Azeem, Tove and David have made no such declarations.

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New UK funding to give millions of girls around the world the chance to go to school and get a quality education will be announced by Boris Johnson today.

Speaking at the UN General Assembly the Prime Minister will announce £515 million to help get over 12 million children – half of them girls – into school, this will boost economic growth and improve women’s rights in some of the poorest countries in the world.

Supporting the empowerment of girls and women is a priority for the Prime Minister, who used his first speech on the steps of Downing Street to underline the pledge he made as Foreign Secretary that all girls should receive 12 years of quality education.

Globally 131 million girls do not go to school, with teenage girls and young women three times more likely than young men to be out of school or work. In Tanzania, one in three girls marry and become pregnant before the age of 18, and more than one in ten girls are victims of sexual violence on their way to school.

But girls’ education is a key driver determining a country’s economic success. A child whose mother can read is 50% more likely to live past the age of five and twice as likely to attend school herself, one additional school year can increase a woman’s earnings by 20%, and $28 trillion would be added to global GDP if women had the same role in the labour market as men.

Today’s funding builds on the £90 million the Prime Minister committed at the G7 Summit last month for education in conflict areas.

Ahead of an event on education and the Sustainable Development Goals today, the Prime Minister said:

Four years ago the world came together and agreed that every child has a right to an education and a fair chance in life. We enshrined that promise in the Sustainable Development Goals. Right now, we are breaking our promise to the world’s children, and to countless girls and young women who deserve better.

On current estimates it will take another eighty years to achieve the equality of opportunity we said we would deliver within fifteen. That means decades of girls who should be growing up to be doctors, teachers, entrepreneurs, and prime ministers having their dreams snatched away from them.

I want girls to achieve their potential. I want that for all girls, whether they were born in London, Lagos, Lima or Lahore. And I want the world to stop wilfully neglecting the enormous benefits that accrue for everyone when girls are given an education and a job.

UK funding will ensure even more girls can fulfil their potential by:

• teaching basic literacy and numeracy
• getting children living in conflict zones including the Sahel into school
• and mobilising an additional $5 billion of investment for education in Africa and Asia, with a focus on the most marginalised children

This new spending commitment will contribute to global efforts to meet a number of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals – in particular the goal of ensuring equal access for men and women to education.

International Development Secretary Alok Sharma said:

It is staggering that a child whose mother can read is 50% more likely to live past the age of five and twice as likely to attend school themselves.

If we educate girls today we will transform the world of tomorrow and ensure all future generations thrive. That is why the UK is increasing support to give every girl across the world the chance to go to school.

British satellites will be better protected through a £20m boost to predict severe space weather events, the PM has announced whilst at the UN General Assembly today (Tuesday 24 September).

Space weather, such as flares or winds from the Sun’s surface or geomagnetic storms, can damage our satellites and cause power disruptions, issues to air transportation, and problems across communications systems, such as GPS and mobile phone networks.

The £20m announced today nearly quadruples investment from government into research that can improve systems at the Met Office Space Weather Operations Centre. This will build the UK’s knowledge on how to forecast and better prepare for these space weather events.

This new fund will be used to look closely at space weather innovation, measurement, modelling and risk assessment. By predicting when and where space weather events take place, the Met Office can issue warnings and advice that will allow operators to take necessary action, such as manoeuvring satellites and isolating parts of the power network to ensure the least amount of disruption possible.

The UK will also be able to share forecasts with other space weather centres around the world, including the US Space Weather Prediction Centre.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said:

From solar flares to magnetic storms, space weather can have a massive impact on mobile phones, transport, GPS signals and the electricity networks we rely on every day at home.

The funding announced today will help turn Britain’s pioneering research into practical solutions that will protect against any adverse disruption caused by cosmic chaos.

This comes as the Science Minister Chris Skidmore and UK Space Agency confirms at the UK Space Conference in Wales a further £1.3 million towards developing spaceport plans in England, Scotland and Wales, as part of the government’s spaceflight programme, LaunchUK. This funding is on top of the up to £7.85 million the government intends to invest in developing facilities and operational capabilities at Spaceport Cornwall with Virgin Orbit. The UK Space Agency has also committed £31.5 million in grants for the proposed vertical launch spaceport project in Sutherland, Scotland, and for Lockheed Martin and British company Orbex to provide launch services from that site.

Once operational, spaceports have the potential to create commercial space launch services in the UK, giving our world-leading satellite industry access to space from UK soil for the first time and creating high-skilled jobs in the surrounding areas.

The new funding will be shared between sites around the country:

• £499,811 to Snowdonia Aerospace for the Snowdonia Spaceport Development Plan, which aims to create a centre for space R&D, training and satellite launch
• £488,000 to Machrihanish Airbase Community Company for the spaceport cluster plan in Argyle, Scotland, centred on an aerodrome with the longest runway in Scotland
• £306,480 to Cornwall Council for an Accelerated Business Development and Research Project at Spaceport Cornwall, supporting its ambition to be a centre for future flight technologies

Science Minister Chris Skidmore said:

Our space sector is incredibly strong and productive, with innovative firms and the UK’s world-class university researchers playing a leading role in the new space age.

A truly strategic approach to space is needed now more than ever and we must develop our national space capabilities, while strengthening our international partnerships, to take full advantage of opportunities like satellite launch from the UK and defend against serious threats such as space weather.

Later today, the UK Space Agency and Australian Space Agency will set out their intention to develop a ‘Space Bridge’ agreement to unlock greater collaboration on space between the two countries’ governments, regulators and industry.

The UK and Australia already have a shared space history, with the first British rockets lifting off from Woomera, South Australia in the 1950s. The Australian Space Agency was established last year following close consultation with the UK Space Agency. This new agreement will maximise opportunities even further for trade links and sharing best expertise.

Minister for Investment Graham Stuart said:

Our UK space sector holds some of the most future-focused and exciting businesses in the country. It’s great to see so many of them represented at the conference today, alongside trade delegations from around the world.

The internationalisation of space exploration will be transformational and the UK-Australia Space Bridge is the perfect example of how we can facilitate further collaboration between countries as we all strive for the same goals in research and investigation.

DIT’s dedicated space team and its global network of trade advisors are part of a government-wide push to grow investment and exports in the sector.