Dritan Kaleshi

With 30 years experience as a technologist and researcher in communication networks, distributed system design and interoperability, Dritan is Director of 5G Technology at Digital Catapult and Co-Director of SONIC Labs. Dritan has established and leads the Future Networks 5G and Digital Infrastructure programs in Digital Catapult, delivering technology development and innovation in advanced ICT systems and their adoption in enterprise networks in the UK. He was a founder of the SONIC Labs and of UK Telecommunication Network (UKTIN).

An acknowledged thought leader in his field, Dritan has published over 75 papers, holds three patents and has edited two international standards on interoperability, and is often invited to speak on advanced digital infrastructure and communication systems. He has represented the UK in international standardisation bodies and served on/chaired international conferences and technical committees, and provided technical advice to industry and the UK government.

His focus is on national coordination and how to best support advanced digital infrastructure and connectivity technology uptake, growing UK capabilities in telecommunications R&D, as well as developing in Digital Catapult  technical advances on new 5G/6G network architectures, network and service orchestration, edge computing and IoT support.

Prior to Digital Catapult he was at University of Bristol, where he led a 15-strong research team, strategically combining network and distributed systems research with industrial collaboration, making a wide range of contributions and practical implementations in networking, interoperability, smart energy, cities and digital health.