Intelligent Digital Fabric

As part of the Digital Futures research phase Digital Catapult is providing an expert view on the internet of things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), 5G and distributed ledger technologies (DLT) in an end to end delivery stack of advanced digital technologies that form an Intelligent Digital Fabric. This will ensure that a wide range of digital services distributed across any sector of our economy are able to operate both on their own and with each other.

The Intelligent Digital Fabric (IDF) is the technology platform that forms the foundation of the Digital Futures vision. It integrates connectivity with service resources as part of a powerful infrastructure enabling current and future digital services in all sectors of our economy.

This paper provides Digital Catapult’s support for the IDF based on its own research and the learnings delivered by workshops with industry and government. It provides an overview of:

• The description and visualisation of the IDF
• Outline of the IDF ecosystem and key players in the UK
• Use cases
• Position of the UK in the global market

This pertinent research defines and provides information on the current state and future direction of IDF, outlining the end to end digital infrastructure stack (from IoT sensors to low powered and 5G networks and the subsequent interface with platforms). The report provides evidence of key opportunity areas as well as recommendations for areas of exploration for the next phase.