Programme
National Cyber Physical Infrastructure programe
About
From large scale, connected digital twins, robotics and autonomous systems and the metaverse, ‘Cyber Physical Systems’ will help us to respond to today’s most pressing environmental, social and economic challenges. However, creating a robust cyber physical infrastructure to support these systems is a challenge.
Digital Catapult has been working with leaders in the field – from government policymakers to corporates and startups – to explore how we can develop cyber physical infrastructure – the building blocks of cyber physical systems – in a way that focuses on interoperability, openness, security and end user needs. Part of this involves developing a ‘systems thinking’ approach that considers how different technologies converge.
Benefits
Our work around cyber physical infrastructure:
- Accelerates the development of cyber physical systems, which will help tackle industrial net zero challenges, unleash new commercial opportunities for businesses and support new consumer experiences
- Facilitates crucial conversations amongst key players in the ecosystem around issues such as security, interoperability, regulatory aspects and standards
- Paves the way for safe and responsible development of cyber physical systems that are developed collaboratively, and considers the new business models required to get us there
- Considers the tools and environments for innovators to rapidly prototype, test and develop ideas for cyber physical systems
Workstreams
Consultation on Cyber Physical Infrastructure
Digital Catapult is working with the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) to understand the potential value of and options for a UK capability in digital twinning and wider cyber-physical infrastructure.
Our work is providing valuable insights to allow for business and governments to develop cyber physical systems that work internationally, for all, rather than retrofitting rules and regulations, or individual technologies, into existing systems. This involves identifying commonalities between technology strands and their challenges: from availability of data, issues with legacy systems, and lack of scalable solutions to meet growing demand and skills.
To identify opportunities and challenges, Digital Catapult hosted a series of workshops with over 100 organisations from multiple sectors including manufacturing, healthcare and energy & utilities. This involved invaluable discussions around how the UK can develop a national cyber physical infrastructure capability.
Key learnings from these workshops were supplied by Digital Catapult to support the government’s cyber physical consultation, launched as part of its Innovation Strategy.
Read the BEIS report on cyber physical infrastructure here.
Read the report response from the former Science and Innovation Minister referencing our work here.
Digital Twin Hub
Digital Catapult is working alongside the Connected Places Catapult and the wider Catapult network, industry and academia to provide insights and engagement to the Digital Twin Hub. The Digital Twin Hub is a national programme encouraging conversations from key players in the ecosystem around the supply and demand of digital twins, and provides a forum for discussions around interoperability, adoption and innovation.
To read our explainer on Digital Twins, click here.
Find out more about the Digital Twin Hub here.
Related events
Cyber Physical Future Forum
During London Tech Week 2022, Digital Catapult hosted the Cyber Physical Future forum, an event open to policy makers, industry stakeholders and organisations from within the innovation landscape interested in UK cyber physical infrastructure.
As well a keynote speech from the former Minister for Science, Research and Innovation, George Freeman, the event included panel discussions around the cyber physical future’s commercial opportunities, as well as around how we can build an equitable ecosystem for cyber physical development.
Read more about the event here.
Metaverse Symposium
Digital Catapult co-hosted an event with the Digital Regulation Cooperation Forum (DRCF) to exchange ideas and perspectives on the potential implications of the metaverse and its associated technologies.
The event was attended by senior stakeholders including DCMS and BEIS, leading startups and corporate heavyweights from Meta to NVIDIA. Cross-cutting issues were discussed including interoperability to safety and standards and commercial collaboration.
Contact
For more information on our work around cyber physical infrastructure, and to have a conversation with us today, contact our Director of Policy, Research & Strategic Engagement at [email protected]
Thought leadership
