In a world where the benefits of technological advances are so ubiquitous they’ve almost become invisible, it’s easy to forget how remarkable it is that our devices can help us find our way from our front doors to any destination we choose.

Getting to a new place with turn-by-turn instructions issued from our phones instead of grappling with a folding map is enabled by global navigation satellite systems, or GNSS: orbital technology that provide us with very accurate measurements of time, direction and speed from space.

GNSS doesn’t just help us find our way, however; it also underpins vital areas of the UK’s economy, much of the country’s key infrastructure, and national security. The aerospace, transport, finance, maritime, and agriculture sectors are all dependent on reliable GNSS signals.

But GNSS is surprisingly vulnerable to interference and attacks. If you’ve ever struggled to get an accurate reading from your phone’s navigation apps indoors, that’s because the signals are actually quite weak, and can be blocked by walls and ceilings.

That weakness makes them vulnerable to jamming attacks, where malicious actors find ways to interfere with GNSS signals. Criminals can use easily-acquired techniques to jam or spoof GNSS signals on a small scale, hiding their activities from the law, but state actors could choose to take bigger steps to block signals on a national scale in future conflicts.

If those connections were blocked for any length of time, it would wreak havoc on the affected nation’s infrastructure and services. A large-scale jamming attack could cost the UK a billion pounds at day, according to a recent estimate.

Maintaining the integrity of the UK’s infrastructure through cutting-edge research is one of the key aims of the UK Hub for Quantum Enabled Position, Navigation & Timing (QPENT), which was officially launched at an event in London last week.

I’m principal investigator of QEPNT, which is backed by funding from the UK Government. Working alongside eight other UK universities and the National Physical Laboratory, we're developing technologies that will harness the power of quantum timing and position sensors to free ourselves from our reliance on satellite positioning.

The projects we’re working on include navigation systems robust enough to work underground, LIDAR sensors that can see through rain and fog, and atomic clocks that provide precise timing without satellite signals. These smaller, lighter technologies could enable mobile phones to navigate inside buildings, keep airports operational by detecting drones kilometres away, and allow submarines to operate for months without surfacing for satellite signals.

We're also working to establish a UK supply chain for atomic clocks, ensuring critical national infrastructure has backup timing systems for resilience during satellite disruptions.

This isn't just about security, however. QEPNT is aiming to create technology that will offer high-skilled job opportunities and kickstart economic growth in an increasingly critical sector for Britain's future, building on the UK’s world-leading expertise in quantum technologies. I’m proud to be helping QEPNT to make the UK a more secure, more technologically-advanced nation and to help make Britain's streets safer.

Professor Douglas Paul is Royal Academy of Engineering Chair in Emerging Technologies at the University of Glasgow’s James Watt School of Engineering and Principal Investigator of the QEPNT Hub

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