On 1 November 2023, I marked five years at Connected Places Catapult. It was also National Engineering Day, which made it a useful moment to step back and reflect on what the work had really been about: not only individual programmes, but the practical work of turning innovation into adoption.
When I joined the Catapult, the mission was clear: stimulate innovation in transport, create new markets, remove barriers to adoption and improve quality of life. That sounds straightforward as a statement of intent. In practice, it requires a translation layer between government ambition, industry capability, academic research, infrastructure reality and public value.
Innovation only matters when it creates the conditions for adoption — when technology becomes useful, trusted and deployable in the real world.
The pattern behind the programmes
Across my directorate, New Mobility Technologies, three themes kept appearing: applied AI and digitisation, automation and autonomy, and decarbonisation. They were not separate workstreams. They were connected parts of a wider system change across transport, places and infrastructure.
The work ranged from connected and autonomous vehicles and unmanned aerial systems to maritime innovation, freeports, clean maritime, future aviation infrastructure, intelligent transport systems, rail and station innovation, freight, logistics and ports. The common thread was always the same: how do we make emerging technology useful, credible and scalable in complex real-world environments?
Enabling the future of transport
Connected and autonomous vehicles and unmanned aerial systems were central to the future-mobility agenda. But the real challenge was not simply whether the technology worked. It was whether the wider ecosystem could support safe, trusted and commercially viable deployment.
That meant bringing together evidence, standards, policy, infrastructure, public confidence, use cases and market signals. It meant helping people understand not only what was technically possible, but what was responsible, useful and ready to adopt.
Decarbonisation created the same kind of systems challenge. Road freight, rail, maritime and aviation infrastructure all needed long-term thinking, large-scale collaboration and credible deployment planning. Zero-emission transport is not delivered by a single technology decision; it depends on energy, infrastructure, regulation, operations, investment and public-private collaboration moving together.
Shaping intelligent transport systems
Work such as the Manual for Smart Streets and freight/logistics roadmapping showed how important practical translation is. Good policy and good technology both need to become usable guidance, decision tools and shared language for local authorities, infrastructure owners and suppliers.
That was one of the most important lessons of the five years: many sectors do not lack innovation. They lack the connective tissue that helps innovation become coherent, trusted and investable.
Selected examples of the work
Air mobility and airports
Programmes and activities included zero-emission flight infrastructure, air transport infrastructure sustainability, unmanned aerial systems adoption, future aviation security, airport accessibility, aviation skills and practical demonstrations around hydrogen and electric charging in airside environments.
Road, freight and transport infrastructure
Work included the Manual for Smart Streets, zero-emission road freight, input to the UK Government Future of Freight Plan, freight and logistics data, last-mile mobility, droneport guidance, the Freight Innovation Fund and Freight Innovation Cluster.
Connected and autonomous vehicles
Activities covered CAV market development, sensor performance testing, safety assurance, multi-user scenario catalogues, public perception, motorway safety, 5G-enabled mobility and complex urban autonomous mobility projects.
Rail and stations
The team supported work around robotic systems, train-door monitoring, low-carbon rail freight, platform-edge safety, drone use in rail and geofencing to improve safety for track workers.
Maritime and ports
Maritime and ports work included UK Port of the Future, smart ports, shore power, predictive digital twins, virtual pre-gate concepts, automated asset inspection, freeports, clean shipping corridors, Clean Tyne and the role of ports as energy and innovation hubs.
Three lessons that carry forward
1. Technology is rarely the only bottleneck
The harder question is usually adoption. Is there a clear use case? Is the buyer ready? Is the policy environment aligned? Is the business case credible? Are safety, trust, assurance and operational realities understood? Without those conditions, even strong technology can remain stuck in demonstration mode.
2. Ecosystem work needs a translation layer
Government, industry, academia, local authorities, infrastructure owners and SMEs all see problems from different positions. Progress happens when someone can translate between those perspectives without losing the technical detail or the strategic intent.
3. Portfolio discipline matters more than individual project brilliance
Individual projects can create useful outputs. A coherent portfolio creates direction, momentum and cumulative impact. The value comes from connecting programmes so that learning, capability, market signals and investment logic reinforce each other.
What carries forward into Meriva Impact
Those five years shaped much of the thinking behind Meriva Impact. The work confirmed a pattern I had also seen in defence, AI, autonomy and complex systems: organisations often have strong technology and capable people, but they need help connecting technology to product strategy, market readiness, ecosystem alignment and real-world impact.
That is the advisory space Meriva Impact is designed to occupy. The focus is not innovation theatre, isolated strategy documents or generic consultancy. It is the practical work of helping organisations move from promising ideas to structured portfolios, investable programmes, credible partnerships and adoption pathways.
In simple terms, the work continues to follow the same arc:
Technology → Product → Market → Ecosystem.
Acknowledgement
The original LinkedIn article was also a thank-you to the many colleagues, partners and organisations involved in that period of work: colleagues across Connected Places Catapult, government, industry, academia, local authorities, ports, airports, rail, road, maritime, freight, autonomy, AI and transport innovation.
The achievements were never the result of one person. They came from teams and ecosystems willing to work across boundaries, test difficult ideas, challenge assumptions and keep returning to the question that matters most: how does this create useful impact?
That question remains central to the work I now take forward through Meriva Impact.