Connected Airport Living Lab: Partner Expansion for FY27/28

Currently in its fourth year, the Connected Airport Living Lab (CALL) is opening its doors for the first time since 2023 to seek an additional airport or airport service provider partner.

CALL is already a successful collaborative partnership between Glasgow Airport and Connected Places Catapult, providing opportunities for UK-based SMEs to solve real airport challenges by receiving funding to develop, test or demonstrate innovative technological solutions in a live airport environment.

Summary Commitment Dates How to register your interest

Overview

Connected Places Catapult is inviting expressions of interest to be an additional collaborative partner for the fifth year of the Connected Airport Living Lab, starting in April 2027. Funded by Innovate UK, the programme provides an opportunity for UK-based SMEs to develop, test and demonstrate their late-stage innovative technology in a live airport environment.

By providing a structured, repeatable approach aligned to airport and airport service provider procurement and operational realities, the programme aims to address airport challenges whilst accelerating innovation adoption and scaling across UK airports.

Connected Airport Living Lab objectives:

Solve priority airport / airport service provider challenges through targeted trials

Accelerate market readiness of innovative technologies

Support UK-based high potential SMEs to scale

Challenges will be co-developed annually with the programme partner and trials are planned and delivered within the financial year

Partners benefit from:

Access to an extensive network of SME suppliers: Access to SME suppliers with innovative solutions across all transport and infrastructure sectors.

De-risked innovation opportunities: Ability to support trials without having to fund the SME delivery, de-risking the implementation of innovation.

Opportunities for growth: strengthen your operations, develop high-impact case studies, and position your airport or business as an innovation leader within the airport community

Challenge mapping: support in identifying challenges to be addressed, through targeted workshops with key internal stakeholders.

Collaboration: by leading the delivery process, Connected Places Catapult alleviates the additional challenge that running in-house programmes of this nature comes with, enabling you to maintain focus on day-to-day operations.

For clarity, the IUK funding awarded as part of this programme is aimed at the SMEs selected to trial. Collaborative partners receive no direct funding.

What would being a partner involve?

The following is a typical commitment for a collaborative partner:

Programme Delivery

Monthly delivery update meetings between the nominated partner delivery point of contact and the Catapult delivery team

Quarterly governance meeting with partner programme sponsor

Q1: Challenge Identification

Connected Places Catapult led challenge discovery workshops

Identification of relevant challenge stakeholders and challenge-related policies / scope

Signing off marketing and challenge documents

Q2: SME Selection and onboarding

Assessment of pre-sifted applications by relevant challenge stakeholders

Kick off meeting and follow up stakeholder intros (covering IT / GDPR / ID /  compliance requirements)

Access to relevant data / records for M&E baselining

Facilitation of access to relevant estate/assets

Sign off of trial plan

Q3: Trial delivery

Facilitation of trial delivery

Q4: Trial Delivery

Facilitation of trial delivery

QA of trial report

5 Nov

Expressions of interest opens

30 Nov

Expressions of interest closes

Dec-Jan

Further discussions

31 Mar 2027

Collaborative Partnership Contract signed by 31st March 2027.

Registration process

The window to register your interest is open until Monday 30th November at noon. If you have any questions please contact [email protected].

Register your interest