Dear [FNAME]

Please find press release below.

If you'd like to talk to Dr Oughton, have written comment from him or an article, just get in touch and we will be delighted to set that up.

I've also attached a photo of Edward.

If you can attend the conference you'd be most welcome - just contact me asap for a press pass.

Warm regards

Cath

New tools to analyse telecoms networks and infrastructure strategies; new tools to analyse and reduce costs for 5G networks

Launching at DAFNI Conference 2019: The Royal Society London, 10-11 June 2019

With the hotly anticipated rollout of 5G now launched in six UK cities, a new set of tools for analysis, cost-effectiveness and efficiency of the 5G infrastructure will be welcomed by industry and researchers alike.

These and other new developments in infrastructure data science will be showcased at the Data & Analytics Facility for National Infrastructure (DAFNI) Conference in London on 10-11 June.

Join us in London for this exciting launch event.

Dr Edward Oughton from the University of Oxford and the UK Infrastructure Transitions Research Consortium (ITRC) has developed a new set of tools for DAFNI which will analyse mobile and fixed line networks, help reduce telecoms infrastructure costs and promote energy efficiency.

“This is a new domain of analytics to help deployment,” Edward explains. Known as the Cambridge Digital Communications Assessment Model, it will create new ways to analyse mobile and fixed telecoms, including fibre to premises, 5G and mobile rollouts.

Huge sums are at stake with operators such as Three UK recently announcing they plan to invest over £2bn in new 5G infrastructure[i] and the UK Government investing £25million in new test beds for 5G[ii].

For the first time telecoms companies, infrastructure providers, engineers, policymakers, planners and researchers will have a model they can use which quantifies the impacts of national infrastructure communications policies including the UK’s 5G Strategy and the Future Telecoms Infrastructure Review.

The model provides spatial evidence for regulatory and policy options and be used for scenario planning.

“We’ve tested the types of strategies that infrastructure owners could deploy, from top level scenario planning to detailed topics such as heights and locations of mobile phone towers to quantify the capacity implications given existing planning regulations,” explains Edward.

Edward adds, “This will be of great interest to many small and medium digital ecosystems players such as mobile operators or smaller companies with no R&D department.”

The Cambridge Digital Communications Assessment Model is one of a number which will run on DAFNI, the National Platform that will provide the UK with infrastructure data analysis and previously unseen levels of computer performance. This will provide greater insights to inform policy decisions and help the UK lead the world in high-impact infrastructure data science.

Join us in London for this exciting launch event. 

Book your place at: https://www.dafni.ac.uk/conference/.

DAFNI is the Data & Analytics Facility for National Infrastructure to advance UK infrastructure research, is funded by an £8 million investment from the UK Collaboratorium for Research on Infrastructure and Cities (UKCRIC). DAFNI is managed by the Science and Technology Facilities Council’s (STFC) Scientific Computing Department and is based at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory on the Harwell Campus, Oxfordshire.

The distinguished speaker roster includes:

• Professor Jim Hall of Oxford University – “DAFNI: the next-generation platform for infrastructure planning and research - why it’s needed and what it will deliver; opportunities for involvement”
• Sir John Armitt CBE, chair of the National Infrastructure Commission – “National Infrastructure Strategy and the National Infrastructure Resilience Study”
• Samuel Charlton, DAFNI project lead at STFC – “Live demonstration of DAFNI 1.0 - a service for academia, government and industry ”
• Mark Enzer, chief technical officer at Mott MacDonald and chair of the Digital Framework Task Group for the Centre for Digital Built Britain – “How DAFNI can support and transform industry practice”

We’ll also hear from researchers leading pilot projects across a variety of infrastructure areas:

• Dr Edward Oughton of University of Oxford – “The implications of roll-out of 5G mobile networks across the UK”
• Dr Adrián Carro of University of Oxford – “How different factors affect the UK’s housing prices and market”
• Dr Simon Blainey of Southampton University – “Forecasting demand and identifying the best locations for new local train stations”
• Dr Nik Lomax of University of Leeds – “Mapping the UK population in terms of future growth, migration and household structures”
• Professor Stuart Barr of Newcastle University, Professor Daniel Coca of Sheffield University, and Dr Theo Tryfonas of University of Bristol – “How real-time data across Cities is supporting resilience studies through the Urban Observatory”

Day 2 features a hackathon for researchers from academic institutions and organisations around the UK to collaborate on future ideas and developments for DAFNI from visualisations to enhancing communication, using tools such as HoloLens and HTC Vive with pre-configured datasets.

- ends -

Notes to editors:

We have a limited number of press passes available for Monday 10^th June, contact catherine.dhanjal@theanswer.ltd to register for a press pass

About DAFNI

The Data and Analytics Facility for National Infrastructure (DAFNI) is recognised as a world leader in infrastructure system research. 

DAFNI is managed by STFC’s Scientific Computing Department and is based at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory on the Harwell Campus, Oxfordshire. DAFNI is being designed and developed over the next four years by the Science and Technology Facilities Council. Using advanced computing, DAFNI provides world leading infrastructure systems research capabilities to collate infrastructure data from multiple sources, map and model it, and use advanced visualisations to demonstrate and explore scenarios.

DAFNI is funded by an £8 million investment from the UK Collaboratorium for Research on Infrastructure and Cities (UKCRIC) in 2017. It is recognised as critically important by over 100 signatories from the research community, business and government who are supporting a “Statement of Community need” submission to request ongoing funding through the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (ESPRC) for DAFNI to transition into the National Research Facility for Infrastucture Data, Modelling and Simulation.

DAFNI: https://www.dafni.ac.uk/

Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC)

STFC: https://stfc.ukri.org/

Media enquiries and interview requests to:

Catherine Dhanjal, TheAnswer Ltd

Catherine.dhanjal@theanswer.ltd or 0800 998 7990 / 0794 1669925

31 May 2019

 [i] https://www.zdnet.com/article/three-uk-to-invest-over-2bn-in-new-5g-infrastructure/

[ii] https://www.standard.co.uk/tech/what-is-5g-uk-huawei-samsung-ee-o2-a4148906.html