UNLOC expertise sought at round table event between industry and parliamentarians
7 March, 2016
UNLOC investigator, Prof. Andrew Ellis from Aston Institute of Photonic Technologies was invited to a Breakfast Meeting organised by the Industry and Parliament Trust in the House of Commons to discuss the vital role of fast and reliable internet infrastructure.
The Industry and Parliament Trust, an independent charity that provides a platform of engagement between Parliament and UK business from multiple industry sectors, turned its attention at the end of last month to the important issue of providing fast broadband network to UK businesses, particularly in rural areas in order to retain UK's leading position in today's global digital economy. Industry representatives, policy makers and leading researchers in the area of networking and communications were invited to a Breakfast Meeting - a round table discussions which focus on a topical area of policy and ask critical questions in a balanced and inclusive way. Entitled "Need for Speed: Connectivity and Infrastructure", the meeting covered the provision of high capacity broadband, in particular in rural locations, the future structure and objectives for BT OpenReach, "pure fiber" penetration rates and more. Prof. Andrew Ellis was invited to inform the discussions on “pure fibre”, also known as “fibre to the home”, the challenges related to energy consumption, trends in capacity growth rates, and the benefits of fibre solutions for Rural Broadband. The audience included chairs of the appropriate select committee, representative MPs from the four main parties, members of the House of Lords, and many key industry players.
Several days later, Prof Ellis travelled with colleagues from Aston University to the "Nanophotonics & Advanced Photonic Materials" Conference in Israel where researchers from five leading national nanophotonics institutions met with their UK colleagues to catalyse the formation of UK-Israel consortia in order to jointly leverage funding within the Horizon 2020 framework, create new research collaborations between world leading groups in nanophotonics and support the formation of institutional partnerships. Prof. Ellis had the opportunity to discuss future joint projects with Israeli researchers in optical communications on topics relevant to or expanding the current research activities of UNLOC.
Image: Prof. Andrew Ellis presenting at the Nanophotonics & Advanced Photonic Materials Conference, 29 Feb - 4 March, Israel
IPT blog covering the Breakfast Meeting "Need for Speed: Connectivity and Infrastructure"