Enhancing Passenger Experience – AI in Transport Competition
Applications closed
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Digital twins and AI: What next for transport connectivity?
Unlocking the ‘triplet’ of digital twins and AI will be a gamechanger for our transport systems, the Connected Places Summit heard.
“Connected digital twins provide a mechanism to view the world through the lens of how consumers experience a service,” remarked National Highways’ Chief Data Officer, Davin Crowley-Sweet in a session focused on development of a federated network of transport systems.
He spoke of big tech companies – such as Netflix – becoming “incredibly successful by pivoting their business models” to provide personalised customer experiences.
“What you will start to see from National Highways is we will become less a road operator and road builder, and more a customer service provider.”
Davin added that transport operators must also “move to a model where you are not competing with other forms of transport – like sibling rivalry – where it is us versus trains”.
He said it was “strange” that transport is often structured around operational boundaries, rather than the purpose of connecting the country and creating journeys, especially as all journeys on National Highways roads begin on local authority routes and some trips involve not just a car, but possibly a train, bus and walking too.
It is important to think collectively about how best to increase capacity – whether that is building a road or a railway, he added. “We can only do that if we are sharing data, and not viewing the success of our organisations through the immediate boundary of our organisational structures” but rather aligning with “a common set of goals we agree to, based around users of a service”.
“You might think connected digital twins are flashy tech, but they are not. It is fundamentally shifting the perspective of how we operate for the user of services, as opposed to the internal views of how do we get better at using data to design, build, manage and operate a piece of infrastructure.”Davin Crowley-Sweet, National Highways’ Chief Data Officer
Digital twins becoming ‘digital triplets’
Another session heard Lord Tim Clement-Jones CBE, a Co-Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Artificial Intelligence, discuss AI and digital twins.
He said that AI was “the missing bit of the digital twin – it’s the digital triplet” and that the “possibilities of improvement are huge” to help with innovation.
He added: “Politicians desperately need educating that regulation is not all bad.”
Businesses tend to like “clarity, consistency and certainty when it comes to the adoption of new technology” but said the Government “seems to think that growth is being held back by regulation”. He recognises the need to “cut red tape as much as possible”, but warned against scrapping regulations built up over the last 20 years as a means to encourage professionals to innovate.
He spoke instead of the importance of encouraging the ‘animal spirits’ of entrepreneurs.
“You can have all the de-regulation you like, but you have got to create enthusiasm – and I don’t think we have enough going yet. Government has got to do more, and it isn’t about giving our regulators a hard time.”Lord Tim Clement-Jones CBE, a Co-Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Artificial Intelligence
Lord Tim Clement-Jones was asked by Dr Alison Vincent CBE, Chair of the Digital Twin Hub Board, and a Non-Executive Director at Connected Places Catapult if the UK should own its own AI ‘supercomputer’ to make the country less reliant on others.
He replied there is “quite a lot to be said for sovereign capacity” in areas such as cloud services to reduce dependency on a handful of large tech firms in America.
“Once you are inside the system, there is no escape, and having some sovereign capacity and not being bound to a Silicon Valley company is useful. There needs to be a more competitive environment.”
Lord Tim Clement-Jones also described the sector’s start-up culture as “great” but added “where we go wrong is the growth; it is the scale-up aspect where we are really weak – and we don’t have the risk takers.”
He spoke of his support for so-called ‘sandboxing’ which allows for innovation to be tried without falling foul of regulation at the development stage, and added there could be merit in broadening public understanding of the issues around AI and data.
“The phrase ‘digital twins’ is known by the industry, but if you use the phrase to somebody out there (the public), they have no idea what you are talking about.
“But as soon as you talk about virtual reality or video games, they begin to twig.” He suggested that reducing jargon and speaking in the simplest possible forms may help to increase understanding around AI and digital twins.
To watch a wrap-up video summarising this year’s Connected Places Summit click here. To watch the full videos of the two data discussions on video on demand, see below
In conversation with The Lord Clement Jones CBE
Navigating towards a federated network of transport systems
events
The UK’s Real Estate Investment and Infrastructure Forum
A forum dedicated to unlocking investment and driving regeneration and development across the UK
Days hours mins secs
We’re delighted to partner with the UK’s Real Estate Investment and Infrastructure Forum (UKREiiF) in Leeds, a forum dedicated to unlocking investment and driving regeneration and development across the UK to accelerate economic growth.
This year’s event promises to attract over 16,000 delegates, over 2,500 fringe event attendees, 1,250 speakers and 150 exhibitors from the built environment representing every core UK city and region.
Connected Places Catapult will have its own Pavilion – a dedicated platform for partners and stakeholders from UK cities, regions and freeports to network, collaborate and discuss pressing challenges and solutions in the built environment, transport, data and digital, and international partnerships.
Meet us in Pavilion Square to collaborate, discuss and extend your network.
To find out how to arrange a business meeting with us, join the discussion in the pavilion or collaborate on projects contact us at events@cp.catapult.org.uk
Last year we attracted over 1,100 visitors and 50 speakers. View 2025 pavilion’s programme:
Creating innovative urban spaces with sustainable community investment.
09:40 – 09:50
Opening Address
Kick-start your visit to the Forum by learning how we help grow the UK economy by driving the commercialisation of emerging innovations and next technologies in transport and the built environment in our towns and cities.
- Erika Lewis, Chief Executive Officer, Connected Places Catapult
10:00 – 10:45
Is investing in innovation infrastructure a priority for UK cities?
Hear about how UK cities and place leaders understand the role of innovation – and high-quality, purposeful innovation spaces – in driving economic growth, attracting talent, and supporting sustainable development across different regional contexts.
- Chair: Erika Lewis, Chief Executive Officer, Connected Places Catapult
11:00 – 11:45
Strategic International Collaboration as a Driver for Local Growth
As UK places look to the exploitation of urban challenges as drivers for local growth and innovation, carefully crafted international partnerships have the potential to derive greater impact in response to common ambitions. The Innovation Twins programme participants, Birmingham and Swansea Bay, will share their insights from different points in their collaboration journey.
- Chair: Gareth Davies, Head of International Partnerships, Connected Places Catapult
- Raj Mack, Head of Digital City and Innovation, Birmingham City Council
13:00 – 13:45
Transforming Public Spaces: Driving Health, Investment & Sustainability in Real Estate
Join us for a panel discussion on how innovation in the public realm can drive economic growth, improve community health and well-being, and support sustainability in real estate development.
- Chair: Gavin Summerson, Head of Digital Construction and Infrastructure, Connected Places Catapult
- Daisy Narayanan MBE, Public Realm Director, The Crown Estate
- Matt Baker, Urban Regeneration Specialist, Rise Associates
14:00 – 14:45
Building Bridges – Digital Twins Driving Regional Economic Growth
This session will look at the growing use of digital twins in regeneration to drive economic growth in the West Midlands.
- Chair: Iain Mansell, Head of Regional Engagement, Connected Places Catapult
- Raj Mack, Head of Digital City and Innovation, Birmingham City Council
- Laura Collings, Head of Policy and Strategy, City of Wolverhampton Council
15:00 – 15:45
Innovation Districts: Catalysts for Economic Growth and Urban Transformation
This session will explore how Innovation Districts are reshaping urban economies and driving sustainable inclusive growth through strategic clustering of research institutions, enterprise, startups, and talent. Our expert panelists will examine successful Innovation District models, how to measure their impact on local economies, and the essential elements for driving the innovation economy.
- Chair: Carolyn Dwyer, Non-Executive Director, Connected Places Catapult
- Alisdair Gunn, Project Director, Glasgow City Innovation District (GCID)
- Emily Robson, Assistant Chief Executive, Knowledge Quarter Liverpool
Driving regional growth through investment, data and new technologies.
10:00 – 10:45
Unlocking Opportunity – How Freeports are Driving Growth, Jobs and Prosperity
Hear how the UK Freeports are leading the charge on Place Based Growth, by attracting investment into parts of the country that have historically missed out. Freeports are becoming hotbeds of innovation and building new clusters in sectors of the future, creating thousands of long-term, high quality jobs for local people, join the conversation.
- Chair: Ibrahim Mohamed, Associate Director Freeports, Connected Places Catapult
- Philly Strahan, Freeport Innovation Network Manager, Connected Places Catapult
- Ben Russell, Deputy Head of Freeports and Investment Zones, Department for Business and Trade
- Chris Rowell, Head of Net Zero, Tees Valley Combined Authority
11:00 – 11:45
Investor Panel: Translating Public Sector Innovation into Private Sector Investment
The Net Zero Neighbourhood concept was developed and established by the Cities Commission for Climate Investment (3Ci). However, there’s still a conflict between the demand for Net Zero funding into the public sector and private investors’ risk appetite. This session explores how investors can mitigate these risks by developing a framework for investing in public sector Net Zero Neighbourhood initiatives.
- Chair: Catherine McGuinness CBE, Non-Executive Director, Connected Places Catapult
- James Close, Head of Climate Change, NatWest Group
- Kate Gilmartin, Non-Executive Director, Great British Energy
- Dom Boyle, Local Authority Advisory & Lending, National Wealth Fund
- Julian Batson, Head of Government & Local Authorities, Barclays
12:00 – 12:45
A Tale of Two Cities (Regions)
This session will explore the approaches taken by Belfast and Liverpool to drive growth through innovation and will also consider two city regions roles as major places within the Irish Sea Rim with its rich assets and talent pool.
- Chair: Erika Lewis, Chief Executive Officer, Connected Places Catapult
- Dr. Adrian Johnston, Innovation Commissioner, Innovation City Belfast
- Katherine Fairclough, Chief Executive Officer, Liverpool City Region Combined Authority
- Professor Phil Leigh, Senior Knowledge Exchange Manager, University of Cumbria
14:00 – 14:45
What’s next for the future of planning?
Join us to hear from leading voices from organisations at the forefront of shaping the next chapter of digital planning in the UK. Our speakers will reflect on the successes and lessons learned from nearly a decade of digital transformation in the UK planning system, and look ahead to explore the emerging challenges and innovation opportunities in spatial planning.
- Chair: Alan Welby Managing Director, Build Environment and Local Growth, Connected Places Catapult
- Peter Kemp, Head of Change and Delivery, Greater London Authority
- Wei Yang, CEO, Digital Task Force for Planning
- Bridget Wilkins, Head of Adoption, Engagement and Innovation, Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government
- Stefan Webb, Senior Partner – Place and Infrastructure, TPX Impact
Fringe event at the Connected Places Catapult Pavilion
17:00 – 18:30
Commercial Property Investor, Developer and Occupier Mixer
Meet place senior decision makers from investors, developers, occupiers and operators within commercial property. This is a closed event organised in our pavilion together with the UKREiiF team, express your interest to attend by contacting Kevin Smith at kevin.smith@ukreiif.com.
Bridging the bag between discovery and the market to spark innovation across the country.
10:30 – 11:00
The Art of the Possible: Unlocking the Potential of Community-Based Finance in the UK
Following the launch of our recent The Art of the Possible report, this session explores why community-based finance matters, what the research reveals, and what needs to happen next to unlock local investment and drive economic growth.
- Chair: James Cushing, Head of Regional and Local Growth Technical, Connected Places Catapult
- Ipsa Agnani, Programme Coordinator Impact, Investment Institute
Unlock the potential of AI in transforming the UK transport sector
The Department for Transport (DfT), in collaboration with Connected Places Catapult, recognises the transformative potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in shaping the future of the UK’s transport system.
The Government has recently announced a consultation to allow the creation of an Integrated National Transport Strategy which will set out a ‘people first approach’ to getting people around the country.
The Enhancing Passenger Experience – AI in Transport Competition will allow Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to submit a use case proposal for an AI-driven transport solution that complements government objectives.
Successful applicants will work closely with government and industry stakeholders to develop a business case and pitch deck as well as opportunities to further develop their solution.
Competition Overview
Scope
With a focus on passenger experience, this competition seeks solutions that complement the government’s key priorities for transport.
In alignment with the government’s key priorities for transport, this competition focuses on how AI can enhance passenger experience across the UK’s transport networks.
We are seeking innovative solutions in the form of use case proposals that address the most pressing challenges faced by passengers/transport users, aiming to create more reliable, efficient, and accessible transport systems.
Use case submissions for this competition must target a critical area where AI can make a meaningful impact in transport on passenger experience.
When submitting your application, you will be asked to select up to two of the government priorities below that your AI-driven solution best complements:
- Improving Performance on the Railways and Driving Forward Rail Reform
- Improving Bus Services and Growing Usage Across the Country
- Transforming Infrastructure to Promote Social Mobility and Tackle Regional Inequality
- Delivering Greener Transport
- Better Integrating Transport Networks
Further context and background information that will assist you with completing your application can be found in our Application Guidance Document.
Connected Places Catapult and the Department for Transport strongly recommend you read through this guidance document before submitting to ensure you best understand the scope of the competition and how to align your solution with the priorities outlined above.
Programme Phases
This is three-phrase programme with business support, pitching guidance and networking opportunities on offer as well as funding.
If you are accepted onto Phase One, you will receive up to £2,000 to develop your use case into an early-stage business case and pitch deck.
If you are accepted onto Phase Two, you will receive professional pitch training and will then pitch your solution to a panel of government representatives from the DfT.
If you are accepted onto Phase Three, you will receive up to £13,000 to further refine and develop the maturity of your business case, you will also pitch your solution to a panel of senior transport leaders at Connected Places Catapult’s Summit event on 19 March 2025.
Key Dates
What’s on offer to smes?
01
Innovation Funding
Funding to support the development of your business case, pitch deck and pitching opportunity
02
DfT Collaboration
Engage with policymakers to align your innovation with government priorities
03
Pitching Support
Access to professional guidance and coaching on how to best develop and pitch your use case
Eligibility criteria
- Applicant Type: Must be a UK-based SME.
- Technological Readiness Level (TRL): Your solution must be between TRL 2-6.
- Commitment: Participants must be available for the competition timeline.
How to apply
Applications are now closed.
Supporting documents
Point of contact
If you have any questions about the competition or application process, please contact the Innovation Funding team at innovation_funding@cp.catapult.org.uk
events
Innovation Zero 2024
The UK's largest net-zero congress
Event finished: 1st May 2024
We are delighted to once again participate in Innovation Zero, and we’re contributing to a number of sessions, including:
Andrew Chadwick, Ecosystem Director, Air Mobility & Airports, joining the Fuelling Flight: Hydrogen session on 1 May at 11:45.
Alison Young, Head of Global Investment, joining the session on Funding the Automotive Transformation, on 1 May at 12:25 in the Transport & Mobility Forum.
events
Connected North 2024
Delivering the North's Connected Future
Event finished: 23rd April 2024
We are hosting a Digital Twin Hub session on Day 1, 22 April at 2pm, titled ‘Digital twins driving innovation in the North – Explore innovative projects that look to catapult the North of the UK into a bright digital future’. Join Nury Moreira, Community Manager of Digital Twin Hub, and other speakers for an inspiring conversation.
events
UKREiiF 2024
The UK's Real Estate Investment & Infrastructure Forum
Event finished: 23rd May 2024
This year, we are proud to host our own Pavilion, a place designed to showcase real innovation, and provide opportunities to connect with thought leaders, and UK and global peers.
To review our full Agenda of sessions and activities taking place over the three days and plan your visit, please head to the UKREiiF website > Programme tab > Download Programme or > Click on the Connected Places Catapult Pavilion dot to browse online.
Make sure to visit our Pavilion in Pavilion Square, we look forward to connecting with you in Leeds!
events
Interchange 2024
Be the Change
Event finished: 28th February 2024
Paul Wilson, our Chief Business Officer, is participating in the keynote panel titled ‘Transport as the key to people-centric, accessible, and sustainable urban spaces’ on 27 Feb, from 13:10 on the Keynote Stage.
Justin Anderson, Director of Digital Twin Hub, is delivering a presentation on connected digital twins as part of Interchange partner event Transforming Infrastructure Performance (TIP) Live, also on 27 Feb.
Come find us on the show floor and connect!
Register using code CPC24.
events
Open and Agile Smart Cities (OASC) Conference 2024
Become better connected
Event finished: 17th January 2024
We’re delighted to participate in the Open & Agile Smart Cities Conference. Make sure to visit our Connected Places Catapult stand on the show floor and to join the sessions our experts are participating in over the course of the two days.
articles
Digital twins summit makes the connection
Over 900 guests joined the Connected Digital Twins Summit either in person or online to hear industry specialists discuss latest developments, new technologies and next steps.
articles
Digital twins summit makes the connection
Over 900 guests joined the Connected Digital Twins Summit either in person or online to hear industry specialists discuss latest developments, new technologies and next steps.
articles
Digital twins summit makes the connection
Over 900 guests joined the Connected Digital Twins Summit either in person or online to hear industry specialists discuss latest developments, new technologies and next steps.
Connected digital twins offer excellent opportunities to improve the delivery of infrastructure construction and maintenance through a variety of technology platforms, an event heard the other week. But they also promise improved interactions between industry stakeholders and a better chance of engaging with the public positively over new proposals.
“By placing people at the centre, we can design and optimise systems to meet the needs of the individual,” said Dr Alison Vincent, the Chair of the Digital Twin Hub’s Strategic Board and a Non-Executive Director of Connected Places Catapult, in a keynote address to delegates at the Connected Digital Twins Summit.
“The result is a more open and collaborative digital twin ecosystem for the good of everyone, helping to improve health and wellbeing, mobility, access to essential resources, and economic opportunity.”
Platforms like the Digital Twin Hub, continued Alison, “have a role to play in bringing together people and expertise to focus on connecting digital twins, and to make sure the latest tools, guidance and programmes meet the needs of our communities.
“We are driven by our motto ‘learning through sharing and progressing by doing’ and our desire is to be the world-leading, go-to resource on digital twins. We aim to boost the strength of understanding and knowhow in the community with the drive and passion to innovate.”Dr Alison Vincent, the Chair of the Digital Twin Hub’s Strategic Board and a Non-Executive Director of Connected Places Catapult
The Connected Digital Twins Summit was opened by Transport Technology and Decarbonisation Minister, Jesse Norman who launched the Transport Research and Innovation Board online Transport Digital Twin Vision and Roadmap to 2035.
In addition, a new partnership with Cranfield University was announced to launch a CPD course in digital twin skills in October.
Providing the public with compelling stories
Several speakers throughout the day echoed the sentiments of Dr Alison Vincent around the need to use digital twins to bring people together.
Janet Greenwood, the Director of KPMG’s Infrastructure Advisory Group said that digital twins “have a massive role to play, particularly around storytelling” when it comes to explaining new proposals for the built environment for the benefit of the general public.
“What we are facing in the future are massive environmental and social changes. Being able to articulate a future vision and set out possible interventions to mitigate risks and make the most of opportunities are where digital twins have a key role.”
Janet later said that digital twins can help people to imagine what a future vision for an infrastructure development would look like, adding: “It is incumbent upon us as industry experts to be able to articulate a future vision.”
During a later session on digital skills and building capability within the DT Hub Working Group, Anglian Water Services’ Chief Data Officer, Matt Edwards spoke of the need to better communicate digital goals within organisations.
“Storytelling is such an important skill in our world, to help build business cases,” he said. “What we would really like to do is create guidance that helps any number of organisations learn how to become more comfortable communicating about opportunities through digital twins.”
Effective communication around the importance of using digital twins, he added, can help to “drive digital investment and engage the workforce at all levels. It is our job as leaders to make it happen.
“We are missing a trick if we aren’t showing business communities the art of the possible and showing them a window on the future.” Digital twin storytelling, added Matt, is about “making the narrative and the technologies accessible”.
Another advocate of promoting digital twins more thoroughly was Melissa Zanocco OBE of the Infrastructure Client Group and Co-Chair of the DT Hub Community Council. She told the Summit: “The power of storytelling is just as important as the digital skills. It is about being able to win hearts and minds and put everything into a language that others can understand.”
She added that digital professionals need to ensure they can “talk boardroom language, so that board-level people have the right information to make the decisions they need.”
Digital Twin Hub Director, Justin Anderson spoke of the group “fostering a collaborative space for members to exchange knowledge about digital twins and creating safe spaces to share knowledge about digital twins.
“Our role involves chronicling insights from various sources like community calls, work groups and panel discussions,” he said. “All of these insights are freely distributed among our members, creating a well-stocked repository of valuable resources.”
World Bank Senior Consultant and GeoEnable Director, Steven Eglinton agreed. “Communication is absolutely the single biggest thing for me.” People, he added, have varied skill sets and expertise about how to implement digital technology for infrastructure. “How we use digital twins incrementally will be the challenging part.” Connecting digital twins together, Steven added, promises to bring people together too.
Delegates to the Summit also heard from Innovate UK’s Head of Digital Twins, Simon Hart who spoke about six new cyber-physical infrastructure projects to accelerate innovation in the UK. He encouraged SMEs to engage with Innovate UK’s new ‘Innovation Hub’ and a newly launched ‘Moonshots for the UK’ initiative. Simon asked the audience to submit ideas for ‘moonshot’ projects that could help to accelerate research and development in the UK around digital twins. “We want to hear from the public if they have identified any gaps,” he said.
Transparency is the new gold
During another session on unleashing the power of connected twins, Kjell Eriksson of DNV remarked that while many people see ‘data as the new gold’, “maybe moving forwards transparency is the new gold”. In future, he added, “there will be increased demand for sharing what is going on”.
Fujitsu UK’s Centre for Cognitive Advanced Technologies’ Managing Director, Keith Dear remarked that digital twins could become “as profound a revolution as to how we interact with information as the introduction of the internet, and that will need a business model that doesn’t yet exist”.
Also at the event, Sarah Hayes, Engagement Lead for the Climate Resilience Demonstrator digital twin project CReDo remarked that climate change is the biggest challenge we face, but that we are not ready for extreme weather events caused by climate change.
However, she said that sharing data and collaboration across sectors will help to increase the resilience of critical infrastructure in response to climate change.
Sarah set out three industry challenges: the co-ordinated understanding of infrastructure interdependencies; data sharing across sectors; and co-ordinated strategic resilience planning and investment.
“This is all part of our journey towards connected digital twins, so we can share data through some sort of ecosystem distributed architecture we all need to develop,” she said.
Take the next steps in your digital twin journey with the Digital Twins for Senior Leaders course from the Digital Twin Hub, in partnership with Cranfield University.
The 8-week online course aims to help leaders and future leaders develop awareness, knowledge, and increase confidence to create solutions using digital twins. Register for the course, starting on 13 June.
events
Showcasing the Climate Resilience Demonstrator (CReDo) Webinar
Increasing climate resilience through cross-sector data sharing in a connected digital twin.
Event finished: 7th March 2023
We would be delighted if you could join us for the CReDo conference and webinar “Showcasing the Climate Resilience Demonstrator (CReDo) – Increasing climate resilience through cross-sector data sharing in a connected digital twin” on Tuesday 7 March 2023 from 10:00-12.00 to find out about progress in Phase 2 of the Climate Resilience Demonstrator (CReDo) project led by Connected Places Catapult. This event runs in place of the usual Digital Twin Hub Gemini Call.
Digital twins and data sharing initiatives can face many challenges. We will be looking at:
How to break down data siloes for cross-sector data sharing and bring the data together in a way that is scalable and extensible to other organisations, sectors, and regions
How to unlock the strategic use case for planning and investment in climate resilient infrastructure.
We will also be running a live demo of the latest version of CReDo and showing clips of the new CReDo Phase 2 film. The CReDo team will be on hand to answer your questions.
Register to hear more about the CReDo project and join us in spreading the word on how collaboration through connected digital twins can help take us on the path to net zero and adapt to climate change.
