Industry heavyweights announced for Connected Places Summit

Leading speakers from transport, cities and the built environment lined up to address second annual Summit.

Connected Places Catapult, the UK’s innovation accelerator for cities, transport and place leadership has confirmed that Dan Labbad, Chief Executive of The Crown Estate is among the speakers set to address the second Connected Places Summit.

Further leading names confirmed to speak at the showcase event include Dr Michèle Dix of the National Infrastructure Commission; Andy Lord, the Commissioner of Transport for London; and Andrew Haines, the Chief Executive of Network Rail.

The Connected Places Summit will bring together more than 200 speakers and 1,000 in-person delegates across 80 sessions over two days. It takes place at Sancroft Convene in the City of London on 19 and 20 March.

This year’s event focuses on innovation helping to drive jobs and growth in local and regional economies; with discussions around energy networks, transport systems and cities, digital technologies and new ways of doing business.

Delegates will also hear from small to medium sized companies developing new investment-ready solutions and academics involved in research.

Other influential speakers include Places for London Chief Executive Graeme Craig, Glasgow City Council Leader Cllr Susan Aitken, and National Wealth Fund’s Managing Director Lorna Pimlott.

They will be joined by Cardiff Capital Region’s Chief Executive Kellie Beirne, Greater London Authority’s Chief Digital Officer Theo Blackwell MBE, and Hitachi EMEA President, Andrew Barr.

Plus, attendees will hear from the Department for Transport’s Chief Scientific Adviser Prof Sarah Sharples, the Royal Town Planning Institute’s CEO Dr Victoria Hills and HS2’s CEO Mark Wild OBE.

Twelve distinct Summit tracks will include a focus on accelerating innovation, creating new markets, and unlocking investment in net zero; with themes including accessibility, the built environment, devolution, connected digital twins and procurement.

Erika Lewis, Chief Executive Officer at Connected Places Catapult said, “This is a great group of speakers who have agreed to join us at this year’s Connected Places Summit. The discussions that we are going to have will help drive a step-change in how the UK commercialises research and innovation in places with the greatest potential for economic growth. The Summit is a fantastic opportunity for leaders and innovators from across government, business and academia to come to together and shape the places of tomorrow”

Strategic partners for this year’s Connected Places Summit are the Department for Transport and Hitachi. The headline partner is DNV, and supporting partners are Places for London and the Unyte Group. Programme partners are AWS and Bloom.

Tickets for the Summit in March are selling fast. The inaugural Connected Places Summit last spring sold out weeks in advance, and won bronze at the Conference and Event Awards 2024 for ‘Best New Event’.

To secure your ticket for the Connected Places Summit, and to find out more about the event visit: https://cp.catapult.org.uk/summit/connected-places-summit-2025/