Connected Britain Sneak Peek: Fibre rollout, 5G, and digital skills for future generations

For the first time, Total Telecom’s seminal UK telecoms event, Connected Britain, is going virtual, allowing attendees to enjoy a myriad of fascinating presentations from the comfort of their homes or workplaces. 

 

Featuring over 250 speakers from every aspect of the UK telecoms sector, Connected Britain is the UK’s leading connectivity event. 

 

 

 

 

One of the major advantages of Connected Britain’s virtual transition is the increased ease of delivering a personalised attendee experience. Gone are the days of scrolling through agendas to find the room for your next session of interest, only to find it situated at the other end of the venue. Now, Connected Britain brings you nine tracks full of specialised sessions from industry-leading presenters – and they are all just a simple click away.

 

 

Today, we take a closer look at some highlight sessions from Connected Britain’s second day, Thursday 24th of September, featuring three diverse yet interrelated tracks: Project Rollout, 5GLIVE, and Upskill & Digital Britain. 

 

Missed our previous sneak peeks of the Connected Britain agenda? Check out our exciting keynote sessions here, as well as a more in-depth exploration of Day 1’s schedule here.

 

 

 

• Fibre-ing Britain: Planning and engineering strategies for accelerating fibre rollout

 

The UK has lofty goals when it comes to connectivity and when it comes to achieving these goals, only one thing is certain: we will need more fibre. Join a panel of expert speakers from Cartesian, CityFibre, Viavi Solutions, Commscope, and the government’s Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport – stakeholders at the forefront of the UK’s fibre rollout – to learn the latest strategies needed to accelerate our national digital transformation.

 

• Building the workforce for full fibre rollout

 

With the need for more fibre comes the need for more skilled fibre engineers. But such workers are in limited at the best of times and Brexit could lead to an even greater shortage. So, what can we do to build the fibre workforce of tomorrow? Join speakers from The ITP, Openreach, Fujikura, Acome, Genexis, and CityFibre to take part in this fascinating discussion.

 

 

 

• What does the 5G-enabled digital economy look like?

 

5G is set to be transformational in a variety of ways. From the development smart cities and Industry 4.0 to unlocking entirely new forms of experience with virtual and augmented reality, the new technology’s potential is enormous. But what does this mean for the digital economy at large? Paul Wilson from UK5G will moderate a fascinating session on the topic alongside speakers from Ericsson, West Midlands 5G, Bt, Bosch UK, and Vodafone.

 

• Rural 5G: How can next generation mobile deliver connectivity for the hardest to reach? 

 

5G for many of us conjures up images of sprawling connected cities and automated industry, but the new technology is not just poised to transform our urban environments. In this session, speakers from Intelligens Consulting, Quickline Communications, Community Broadband Network, and Mobile UK will discuss the 5G services and products that will truly work for rural communities, as well as the role of 4G and the Shared Rural Network.

 

 

 

• How can you ensure your staff are ready for digital transformation?

 

Technology is advancing at a blistering pace, so much so that it can be all too easy to be left behind. In this session, Andrew Collinson, Partner and Research Director from STL Partners will lead a discussion with representatives from Hyperoptic, Capita, and the Cheshire & Warrington LEP on the topic of identifying and nurturing the digital skills that are absolutely vital in this digital age. The COVID-19 crisis has accelerated international digitalisation – now we must ensure that our staff can keep up.

 

• Inspiring the next generation with digital

 

In an increasingly connected world, nurturing the next generation’s digital skills is more important than ever. From working with education institutions to promoting and expanding apprenticeship opportunities, the industry must play a key role in the development process. In this session, speakers from Optimity, The ITP, FDM Group, Nesta, and BT come together to discussion industry collaboration on this important topic.