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The United Kingdom has issued a summary of input it requested on positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) technologies. The UK deems PNT resilience critical for the UK’s economy.
The 2023 Government Policy Framework for Greater PNT Resilience included an action to “develop a PNT growth policy, including R&D programmes, standards and testing, to drive innovation for PNT based productivity.”
After a call for evidence, the UK Department for Science, Innovation & Technology received 128 responses from business, industry, academics and the public. These views on opportunities and challenges for the UK’s PNT industry are gathered in a document available online.
Key themes identified
A viable market exists for GNSS-independent PNT, with respondents citing applications in defense and critical infrastructure.
Awareness of GNSS vulnerabilities in end users and critical infrastructure sectors is low.
Potential opportunities in GNSS-independent PNT and other technologies include eLoran, LEO-PNT, 5G, quantum PNT, inertial systems, and applications for GNSS-denied environments.
Short-term challenges include funding constraints and a lack of legislation and standards.
Long-term challenges include scalability, lack of sovereign manufacturing capability, and insufficient planning .
The industry is experiencing a skills shortage, especially in engineering, with a limited talent pipeline and lack of dedicated training opportunities.
In all, 128 responses were received from businesses (sellers and users of PNT), academics, industry bodies and the public. Respondents could select multiple sectors when describing their background; the defense sector was selected most frequently (39 responses), followed by space (35 responses), aviation and drones (28 responses), maritime (28 responses) and communications (27 responses).
Responses will be used, along with wider research, to inform future government policy interventions to support the UK PNT sector.