SNPN 5G Assured Integration (CR&D)

Overview

Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), will invest up to £18.5 million in collaborative R&D projects that address a critical system-level integration gap in the UK’s advanced connectivity sector.

The competition is focused on enabling high-value, UK-anchored connectivity components to be integrated into complete, secure and procurable end-to-end solutions. Rather than supporting standalone component development, the funding targets the non-recurring engineering, interoperability testing and verification required to combine multi-vendor Core, RAN and supporting hardware or software technologies into coherent system architectures.

Projects must integrate technologies at TRL 4 to 7 into defined end-to-end architectures and demonstrate secure, multi-vendor interoperability. Consortia are expected to generate robust technical evidence, including reference architectures, performance data and security assurance reports, with clear relevance to end users and adopters to ensure market alignment.

This is a time-bound, evidence-driven competition prioritising rapid system integration and technical assurance over large-scale deployment. Outputs are intended to inform future policy, investment and scale-up decisions, without pre-committing to further funding phases.

Scope

The aim of this competition is to overcome the system level integration gap that prevents high value UK advanced connectivity components from forming complete, procurable solutions.

Projects must:

• integrate UK anchored advanced connectivity components across the Core, RAN, hardware or software layers, towards the availability of an end-to-end system architecture

• fund and deliver Non-Recurring Engineering (NRE) activity required for multi-vendor system integration

• demonstrate secure multi-vendor interoperability, including interface alignment and system performance validation

• include a systems integrator with clear accountability for overall system design and market fit

• publish technical evidence, such as Technical Reference Architectures and interoperability or security reports

• engage with end users or adopters to ensure system designs reflect real world operational requirements and market fit

Testing and validation must be demonstrated in representative or operationally relevant environment, including, for example, the Digital Catapult Stand-alone Non-Public Network (SNPN) Lab, or other industrial infrastructure, or testbeds providing recognised assurances.

Projects must accelerate the market availability of assured 5G SNPN solutions, that improves system security, resilience, performance, or energy efficiency. As a result, strengthening UK systems integration capability and deliver outputs with a credible route to market.

Projects must describe how businesses will engage with relevant validation, testbed, and assurance environments to demonstrate interoperability, performance, and integration readiness. This can include collaboration with appropriate DSIT, UKRI, or Innovate UK supported facilities where this strengthens evidence generation and market adoption.

Innovate UK welcomes applications from small, medium and large enterprises, and systems integrators, including organisations outside the traditional telecommunications sector with relevant system integration expertise. Projects working with industrial end users, for example, Advanced Manufacturing, Defence, Ports, and nationally significant infrastructure are also able to apply.

Innovate UK also welcomes integrators involved in enterprise and business IT networking deployments wanting to expand into supporting operational technology (OT) deployment using 5G technologies through a SNPN architecture.

Key themes and topics

Projects must focus on one or more of the following:

• multi-vendor system integration of Core, RAN, and hardware or software components

• interoperability and interface alignment across disaggregated network elements

• security and resilience of integrated advanced connectivity systems

• energy efficiency and performance optimisation at system level

• system architectures for industrial and infrastructure connectivity use cases

• integrate IT or OT technologies and operation using Wi-Fi or 5G

• engineering approaches that reduce deployment and procurement risk for adopters

Project duration

Projects must:

• last 18 months

• start on 1 August 2026

• end on 31 January 2028

Award value

Grant funding request must be between £2 million and £4 million

Funding rates

For industrial research projects, purposeful research that builds new knowledge and skills to improve or develop products, processes, or services—often through prototypes or system components that validate ideas in realistic settings, you can get funding for your eligible project costs of:

• up to 70% if you are a micro or small organisation

• up to 60% if you are a medium sized organisation

• up to 50% if you are a large organisation

Research organisations can share up to 30% of the total eligible project costs

Eligibility criteria

• Projects must be collaborative and led by a UK registered business of any size

• Projects must include at least one grant claiming SME  

• Collaborators can be a UK registered business of any size; an academic institution; a charity; a not for profit; a public sector organisation; or a research and technology organisation (RTO)

• Subcontractors must be preferably UK-based with fully justified and appropriate costs  

• All funded project work must be carried out within the UK

• intend to exploit the results from or in the UK

• Either Subsidy control and state aid rules apply