UK Telecoms Lab - news

UKTL attended CyberUK, NCSC’s global cyber conference, which took place at the Birmingham ICC in May 2024. The UKTL team met a wide range of representatives from industry, government, and academia at the UKTL stand within the government projects area.

An important part of UKTL’s activity was Cyberverse, the regional fringe event, where the region's cybersecurity ecosystem converged, bringing together West Midlands’ stakeholders for a range of cyber-related talks and activities. Cyberverse was hosted by University of Birmingham at The Exchange, just across the road from the CyberUK main event.

UKTL led a panel entitled ‘The importance of Telecoms Security in an increasingly Connected World.’ The panel was chaired by Meredith McMurray, UKTL’s Programme Manager, and we were delighted to have the following panellists: Yiannis Maos, MBE, CEO, TechWM, David Harcourt, Chief Security Advisor, BT, Robert Franks, MD, WM5G and Joe Williams, Senior Policy Advisor at The Department for Science Innovation and Technology (DSIT).

NPL’s CEO Dr Pete Thompson represented UKTL at the VIP dinner as part of the West Midlands delegation, where he enjoyed meeting tech leaders from a range of organisations.

UKTL attended Birmingham Tech Week, taking part in West Midlands Growth Company’s ‘Global West Midlands: The Tech That Makes Tomorrow Work’ event. Emma Haynes, Partnerships Director at NPL, gave a keynote speech to introduce the work of UKTL and our vision for the future. We were delighted to meet the Mayor of the West Midlands, Andy Street, and to talk about the future of telecoms and to champion cybersecurity.

Emma Haynes (Partnerships Director) with Cllr. Ian Courts, Leader of Solihull Council, at Birmingham Tech Week 2023.

UKTL welcomed Andy Street, the Mayor of the West Midlands and Martin Ward, the Tech Commissioner for the West Midlands to discuss working together on developing cyber and telecoms skills and opportunities and playing our part in growing the world-leading West Midlands cyber and tech ecosystem. We are excited to be part of this vibrant community and proud of the fantastic team of experts who have joined UKTL, our state-of-the-art facility. We look forward to working with Andy Street and Martin Ward and helping to make the region and the nation a safer, more prosperous place.

From left to right: Catherine Quinn (Non-Exec Director, NPL) , Andy Blackmore (MD, UKTL), Martin Ward (Tech Commissioner for the West Midlands), Andy Street (The Mayor of the West Midlands), Pete Thompson (CEO, NPL) and Vicky Saward (Deputy CEO, NPL).