Assured 5G Technical Authority (A5G-TA) Programme

Digital Catapult is working with Innovate UK to deliver the next stage of an industry-leading programme supporting the development and rollout of secure, private 5G networks across critical areas of the UK economy, alongside the UK’s first Telecom AI-native auditing and network assurance framework. 

Delivered as part of Innovate UK’s Advanced Connectivity Technologies and Systems (ACTS) programme, A5G-TA establishes a vendor-neutral assurance capability for Standalone Non-Public Networks (SNPNs). Through independent testing, validation and technical evidence, the programme is building the confidence industry needs to adopt advanced connectivity technologies at scale. 

Digital Catapult will develop the data foundations for future Telecom AI assurance by building a curated AI Network Data Catalogue — a UK-first sovereign, openly accessible knowledge asset of network energy performance and operational data, reducing UK dependence on external datasets and opaque international software ecosystems. 

This fifteen-month programme supports adoption of private advanced 5G across the following sectors: 

• Advanced manufacturing: Enabling secure, high-performance connectivity for automated and data-driven production environments. 

• Logistics: Supporting reliable, low-latency network infrastructure for supply chain and operational technology. 

• Clean energy: De-risking connectivity for smart grid, monitoring and distributed energy systems. 

• Critical national infrastructure: Building independent assurance for networks underpinning essential services.

A5G-TA brings together successful applicants from Innovate UK’s Connecting Capabilities competitions, including the recently run Standalone Non-Public Networks (SNPN) competition. Through industry and academic collaboration, the programme will establish open technical resources, sovereign AI data catalogues and reference architectures designed to unlock economic opportunity and inform technology providers across the ecosystem.

As with previous ecosystem-building programmes such as UKTIN, A5G-TA will support other Innovate UK-funded private advanced 5G network projects while developing new methodologies for Telecom AI-native network assurance, energy efficiency benchmarking and security validation contributing to international telecoms standards and strengthening the UK’s future telecoms ecosystem in support of the Modern Industrial Strategy.

Assured 5G Technical Authority 

Digital Catapult will lead the A5G-TA programme to establish a vendor-neutral assurance capability for SNPNs. This means independent testing, validation and technical evidence to build practical, real-world confidence in advanced 5G adoption — bridging the gap between government and industry, and addressing barriers to adoption across manufacturing, logistics, clean energy and critical national infrastructure.

Telecom AI-native auditing and network assurance framework 

The framework will provide methodologies for AI trustworthiness, explainability, auditability and continuous monitoring — directly supporting the UK National AI Strategy by verifying that AI-enabled network operations can be safely deployed within critical national infrastructure, without introducing unacceptable security or performance risk. Findings will be disseminated to industry, regulators and standards bodies to encourage broad adoption and future standardisation.