Digital connectivity is a fundamental yet often overlooked enabler of nearly all aspects of our private and business lives. It supports e-commerce, e-health, e-transport, e-learning, artificial intelligence, and the path to net zero. It is widely expected to be available anytime, anywhere, and to anyone. However, achieving this ubiquity requires significant research breakthroughs and innovations. In this talk, I will discuss current challenges and showcase solutions being researched as part of TITAN, one of the four UK Telecoms Hubs and involving more than 20 UK partners. Specifically, I will show how light can be used to transmit digital data wirelessly, and how ordinary solar cells can double up as high-speed data detectors.