connectivity

MWC Barcelona is an annual opportunity for connections and collaboration across the telecommunications industry. Over 100,000 people attended this year’s event, which ran from 3 to 6 March and showcased almost 3,000 exhibitors. Darwin’s Irving Galva Tapia was present at the show, speaking about Darwin’s work with autonomous vehicles and ubiquitous communications.

In June, the European Space Agency (ESA) published the report ‘Space for Automotive: Use Cases and Market Opportunities’. This report looks at how modern technology is transforming the automotive industry, and at the role the space industry can play. In particular, the report talks about the importance of reliable connectivity for modern vehicles, especially self-driving vehicles.

On Thursday 22 February, we were pleased to welcome China Unicom to the Darwin SatCom Lab at Harwell Science and Innovation Campus. Over the course of its three-decade history, China Unicom has become one of the largest mobile providers in China, and indeed one of the largest worldwide.

On 14 June 2023, Darwin and Cognizant collaborated to demonstrate remote operation of a self-driving vehicle: the Darwin Autonomous Shuttle. The demonstration took place as part of a summit hosted by Cognizant. From Cognizant’s Analyst Conference in London, commands were sent to the shuttle in Oxfordshire, allowing City analysts to see how the vehicle could be controlled remotely.

Our partnership with the European Space Agency (ESA) has been crucial to our work at Darwin, enabling projects like the Darwin Autonomous Shuttle and our ubiquitous communications technology. ESA’s Directorate for Telecommunications and Integrated Applications (TIA) has now published a white paper about the connected car of the future, and we’re delighted to have played a role in the paper’s creation.