The Thames Freeport Innovation Labs support the delivery of lasting benefits for people, communities, and businesses across the Thames region.
The first of these, the Connectivity Lab, is focused on ports and logistics. The programme brings together established scale-ups, multinationals, and public bodies to test and scale technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality (AR), and virtual reality (VR), together with advanced sensors and automation. Showcasing Thames Freeport’s newly implemented private 5G networks, the aim is to improve efficiency, reduce emissions and create new opportunities for businesses by providing real world value across the partner sites – DP World London Gateway, Port of Tilbury and Ford Dagenham.
Delivered by L Marks, in collaboration with Cambridge Management Consulting, and launching on 1st September 2025, the Lab’s mission is to leverage advanced technology to deliver measurable operational, environmental, and commercial benefits, with a clear focus on scalability and real-world deployment. This also includes considering wider social and economic benefits like workforce up-skilling and supply chain improvements.Launching on 1st September 2025, the Lab’s mission is to leverage advanced technology to deliver measurable operational, environmental, and commercial benefits, with a clear focus on scalability and real-world deployment. This also includes considering wider social and economic benefits like workforce up-skilling and supply chain improvements.
Beyond delivering efficiencies for ports and supply chains, the Connectivity Lab is also about wider impact, from cleaner air and safer workplaces to new opportunities for local people through skills and employment.
The Vision Behind the Lab
The Connectivity Lab has a clear purpose: to be the region’s catalyst for future innovation and to solve business challenges. The Lab builds on the scale of activity in the region to go beyond isolated prototypes and focus on commercially viable, implementation-ready solutions that elevate sustainability, sharpen competitiveness and create high-value jobs across the region.
By blending advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence, edge and cloud computing, video analytics, and predictive maintenance with access to the Freeport’s newly implemented multi-site private 5G networks from Verizon Business and Nokia, the Connectivity Lab is designed to foster transformative ideas that deliver measurable impact at scale.
Tom White, Director of Innovation at Thames Freeport, said:
The Connectivity lab and our wider partnerships give us the platform to mobilise new solutions at scale. Working alongside innovators, corporates and the public sector, we are building an ecosystem that delivers real impact for both businesses and communities. Together with technology leaders, investors and startups, we are seizing the opportunity to create a global hub of impact-led innovation, and the door is open to those ready to be a part of it â€
Focus Areas for the Connectivity Lab:
- Tracking & Monitoring — harnessing real-time data, sensors, and advanced analytics to improve visibility of cargo, vehicles, and equipment, helping reduce delays and cut emissions.
- Maintenance & Efficiency — deploying AI, automation, and predictive tools to keep critical infrastructure running smoothly, reduce downtime, and optimise use of resources.
- Health, Safety & Security — testing new solutions that improve safety for workers, protect assets, and strengthen resilience against threats across ports and supply chains.
- Wildcard — capturing disruptive ideas that don’t fit neatly into the other categories but have the potential to deliver breakthrough impact for ports, logistics, and the wider community.
Collaboration at the Core
What sets the Connectivity Lab apart is a systems approach with a clear focus on scalability and real-world deployment. Every solution must demonstrate concrete commercial benefits for the Thames Freeport. Beyond this immediate return on investment, the Lab also considers the broader social, environmental and economic benefits, including workforce upskilling and downstream supply chain effects, ensuring long-term value creation.
Collaboration is crucial to achieving this ambitious mission. The Connectivity Lab brings together many organisations to exchange expertise and best practices and ensuring the realisation of wider benefits. Public and private sector collaboration is essential for accelerating concept validation and procurement cycles, and for guaranteeing that every solution is engineered for real-world scalability and long-term commercial viability.
Each solution will be stress-tested during a piloting phase to test the value each supplier can bring across the Freeport partners. Business cases and key metrics will be assessed to identify the most suitable solutions to scale across the Freeport sites.
5G Infrastructure for Growth
Central to the programme and Thames Freeport’s wider mission is the newly implemented ultra-low latency 5G backbone which will enable the development and operation of advanced AI solutions. These will support applications such as automation for cranes or predictive maintenance algorithms for safety critical equipment usings sensors and network intelligence.
Private spectrum will protect sensitive data, and the lab will provide a testing space to ensure new technologies can connect seamlessly with older systems and modern platforms alike. The network will provide the secure, flexible and high-performance foundation needed to confidently develop and scale cutting-edge solutions in critical applications.
Join the Lab
The Connectivity Lab offers:
• Hands-on mentorship from industry leaders
• Real-world proving grounds across DP World London Gateway, the Port of Tilbury and Ford Dagenham
• A fast-track route to commercial deployment
If you’re working on solutions that utilise connectivity to bring real world improvements across tracking & monitoring, maintenance and efficiency or health & safety or securitywe invite you to join us and help shape a smarter, greener, and fairer future.
Apply before the 12 October Thames Freeport – Connectivity Lab 2025