Yearly Archives / 2012

BU Creative & Digital Economies Research Theme

This theme has started to develop and has grown in  interest and critical mass over the past 12  months. Previous theme meetings have discussed the focus and direction of BU’s engagement in these important areas of economic and societal activity.

Another theme meeting is being arranged for 16th January (12-2pm) and in preparation for this I’d like to present the latest draft of theme. I’d be grateful if you could have a look at comment accordingly.

This theme brings together two emerging growth areas of economic and societal importance. The ‘Creative Economy’ is a significant contributor to economic wealth and growth in Europe and provides millions of jobs in the creative industries.  Closely aligned to this, the ‘Digital Economy’ represents the composite interaction of people, processes and digital technologies. By fusing both the creative and digital economies, this research theme aims to engage with the big socio-economic questions, not only of today, but into the future.

Scope of theme: what is included?

This theme would cover any area of investigation where the creative and digital economies have relevance, meaning and potential socio-economic impact.

How does this theme interlink with the other BU themes currently under consideration?

Since the digital world is increasingly embedded in all areas of life, we would see this theme linking with all other BU research themes. The drive toward multi-disciplinary research should encourage theme leaders and members to collaborate on the important social and economic questions of our time.

What are the big questions?

This theme aims to address a number of both societal and economic issues and questions.

Societal

  • How will digital technologies transform the way we work and communicate?
  • How do people engage with digital technologies?
  • How will stories be created and conveyed through digital media in the future?
  • What roles do trust, data protection and privacy play in a digital society?
  • What are inclusive communities and how best can we achieve them?
  • How do individuals and communities most effectively make their voices heard?
  • What is the role of social innovation and exchange in a digital world?

 

Economic

  • What are the determinants of economic performance and sustainable growth?
  • How can new digital products and services generate growth, jobs and help address social challenges?
  • How can the environment be improved to allow for early stage ideas and ventures to grow?
  • How do you building the case for investment in emerging digital infrastructure and platforms?
  • How has the digital world transformed new business models?
  • How are new business opportunities in and across new digital value networks and communities created?
  • What is economic value of intellectual property and who owns it?
  • How is the economic value of information and content exploited?

How does this link to the priorities of the major funding bodies?

Having reviewed the strategic funding priorities of various funders, it is clear that they are taking a more strategic approach to target investment where they believe impact will be greatest. Whilst producing research outputs with ‘societal impact’ has gained traction within academia the idea that research outputs should have an ‘economic impact’ suggests that funders will make strategic investments in ‘market driven’ research. Key words like creativity, innovation, and exploitation act like beacons in many funders strategic plans where the notion of the ‘transformative’ effects of digital technologies need to be understood. Broadly, funders investing in this theme are looking for research that;

  • Focuses on the transformational impact of digital technologies on aspects of community life, cultural, future society, and the economy.

 

  • Emphasises  the impact of digital technologies on how cultural products are made, distributed, and accessed, as well as transforming revenue streams and business models.

 

  • Contributes toward the creation of innovative new products and services that generate economic growth and jobs.

 

  • Is multi-disciplinary and collaborative research in order to better understand and find solutions to problems.

 

  • Engages with the business community in terms of co-created outputs and knowledge transfer.

 

  • Identifies impact goals, strategies for achieving them, and recording, measuring and communicating impact.

Business Law Seminars

BU research, Research themes

You are warmly invited to attend a series of business law seminars being organised by a group of academics in the Department of Law researching in Business Regulation & Institutions, Trade & Entrepreneurship (cBRITE), who will be working closely with the Centre for Entrepreneurship and Economic Growth:

Stephen Copp “The codification of directors’ duties: raising or lowering standards?” 11.00 – 12.00pm Wednesday 5th December 2012 in PG142

Alison Cronin “White Collar Crime – Why the light touch?  The case for a robust criminal law to reinforce ethical conduct in the commercial world” 1.00 – 2.00pm Wednesday 12th December 2012 in PG146

Sarah McKeown “A Common European Sales Law: Facilitating Cross-Border Trade for SMEs” 11.00 – 12.00pm Wednesday 19th December 2012 in PG142

For further details contact Dr Stephen Copp, Associate Professor, Department of Law, The Business School at scopp@bournemouth.ac.uk

BUDI Internal Conference – final call for abstracts

BU research

This serves as the final call for abstracts for the BUDI internal conference taking place on 31st January 2013. If you are interested in highlighting an idea that might have links with dementia or a piece of work you have done that could have relevance in the field of dementia then send us an abstract. Abstracts should be no longer than 250 words, presentations will be 10 mins duration with five minutes allowed for questions and posters should be of A0 portrait size and an award will be given for the best poster on the day. Abstracts for poster and paper presentations should be forwarded to Patricia McParland. Further details can be found on the staff development page.

BUDI continues to work towards a truly collaborative approach to dementia and with this in mind our first internal conference will take place on the 31st January 2013. The theme of this conference is creative collaboration. We are keen to explore new innovative approaches to all aspects of living with dementia and caring for people with dementia. To register, please visit the staff development page.

For more information, please contact Patricia McParland, Project Manager BUDI.

Invitation for Participant Applications: Advancing European Traditions of Entrepreneurship Studies

Research themes

Applications are invited to attend a unique research development workshop Advancing European Traditions of Entrepreneurship Studies A Research Development Workshop. This may be of particular interest to researchers in entrepreneurship, organisation studies or broader social sciences and humanities disciplines who are interested in looking at the phenomena of entrepreneurship from a variety of contexts and perspectives. Please note that the closing date for applications is 15 December 2012 and places are limited.

The aim of this meeting is to provide a creative space to consider experimental and novel approaches which advance theoretical understanding of the domain of entrepreneurship and its real-life practices, contexts and impacts. Drawing on multi-disciplinary perspectives, including social sciences and humanities approaches, opportunities are sought to expose conceptual anomalies in current entrepreneurship research, while developing debate in dialogue with the mainstream of entrepreneurship science.

Organised by the Universities of Leeds and Sheffield, the workshop will take place at an out-of-town retreat venue to ensure opportunities for fruitful discussion. Doctoral candidates and early-career researchers who share questions and concerns related to enterprise and entrepreneurship, are particularly invited to apply to attend. This event is supported by the Society for the Advancement of Management Studies (SAMS) and the Institute of Small Business and Entrepreneurship (ISBE).

The workshop will take place 18th-19th March 2013 at Weetwood Hall Hotel, Leeds, UK

Confirmed Speakers

Prof. Bill Gartner (Clemson, USA); Prof. Friederike Welter (Jönköping, Sweden); Prof. Susan Marlow (Nottingham); Prof. Sara Carter (Strathclyde); Prof. Joep Cornelissen (Leeds); Prof. Simon Down (Anglia Ruskin); Prof. Denise Fletcher (Luxembourg); Prof. Helle Neergaard (Aarhus, Denmark); Dr Ellie Hamilton (Lancaster); Prof. Daniel Hjorth (Copenhagen Business School, Denmark); Prof. Robin Holt (Liverpool); Prof. Sarah Jack (Lancaster); Prof. Nelson Phillips (Imperial); Prof. Tony Watson (Nottingham); Prof. Chris Stayaert (St.Gallen, Switzerland); Dr Paul Tracey (Cambridge); Prof. David Rae (Lincoln); Prof. Ossie Jones (Liverpool); Prof. Colin Williams (Sheffield).

For more details and to apply, please visit: http://www.eventsforce.net/entrepstudies

Closing Date for Applications: 15 December 2012 Limited Places Available

Sustainable Design Research Centre Research Seminar # 2

BU research, Research themes

Date: 10/12/2012

Time: 15:30 (usually 40 minutes presentation followed by 20 informal discussions)

Venue: Coyne Lecture Theatre

 Topic: Water and Sediment Flow Simulations through Reservoirs and Tunnels

Abstract:

Tarbela dam is one of the largest earth filled dams in the world. It is used for water storage and electric power generation. It comprises of six tunnels, three of which are used for power generation and three for irrigation purposes. Sediments inflow in Tarbela reservoir has resulted in reduction in water storage capacity and damage to the tunnels and plant equipment. It is also the backbone of Pakistan (water, food and energy). In this presentation, results of numerical simulations carried out for the very first time to study sediment and cavitation erosion rate through reservoir and tunnels for different seasons (summer, winter and average), for different outflow combinations and sediment delta movement in the reservoir. In addition, studies regarding velocity and pressure profiles vary with and without sediments. Sediment and cavitation erosion with one way and two way coupling at all heads, for different turbulence models (K-ε and RSM) and injection techniques with two way coupling are carried out. More results will be in the presentation.

The above seminar will be delivered by Professor M. Abid who is visiting the School of Design, Engineering & Computing at BU on Monday 10th and Tuesday 11th December. His visit to BU is externally funded by the British Council Knowledge Exchange Grants for International Strategic Partnerships in Research and Education. Prof. M. Abid received his PhD degree from University of Strathclyde, Glasgow and presently working as Dean Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, GIK Institute, Pakistan. His research interests are in the areas of Renewable Energy Systems, Structural Mechanics, Welding Mechanics and Computational Fluid Dynamics. During his two day visit he will be meeting several staff to identify opportunities of research collaborations and exchanges, staff/students mobility in education related activities and will be participating in teaching activities within the Design & Engineering Framework at Level C, I and H.

Dr Andrew Mayers’ research on children’s sleep receives excellent media coverage

BU research

Throughout November, the work that Dr Andrew Mayers (a Senior Lecturer in Psychology, in the school of Design, Engineering and Computing) has been doing with children’s sleep has been receiving a great deal of attention on national television and on national and local radio. Over the last few years, Andrew has been running a series of sleep workshops with parents, in a unique partnership with Winton Primary School and Barnardo’s Bournemouth Children’s Centres. Over that time, there have been several reports in the local press about the work, but it is only in the last six months that this has received national attention, starting in July with articles in the Times Educational Supplement (TES: http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=6264998) and Daily Mail (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2180003/Parents-offered-child-sleep-classes-pupils-turn-lessons-tired.html) and a live interview with Talk Radio Europe (http://www.talkradioeurope.com/clients/amayers.mp3). However, it is this last month that the attention has become more intense, with two features on national television and four live interviews on BBC radio (including one session at 12.30am!).

ITV Daybreak, November 1st: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dd_OaMieSks

BBC Radio 5 Live, Drive show, November 16th http://www.andrewmayers.info/Radio5Nov162012.mp3

BBC Radio 5 Live, Tony Livesey late night show, November 21st http://www.andrewmayers.info/Radio5Nov212012.mp3

BBC1 Breakfast/BBC News Channel, November 21st http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-20423289

BBC Radio Sheffield, November 21st http://www.andrewmayers.info/RadioSheffieldNov212012.mp3

BBC Radio Solent, November 21st http://www.andrewmayers.info/RadioSolentNov212012.mp3

Andrew has been reflecting on these experiences. He said “I am extremely grateful for the incredibly hard work put in to these workshops by Pat Bate at Winton Primary School and Patrick Ives at Barnardo’s – without them this would not have happened. It is also testimony to the effectiveness of a good personal web page. Much of the initial media attention came about because a journalist was conducting research online about children’s sleep, and found my web page. The rest is history!”

Andrew’s website can be found at: www.andrewmayers.info

Andrew also said “Once a website like this is established, it is important to keep it updated, especially when there is a chance of media attention. A few days after the BBC features, I noticed that visits to my website increased six-fold in the first day, and is still well above normal levels of traffic. As a result of the media attention and increased web site visits, I have established several potentially very lucrative new partnerships with leading academics in the field, some with a very high profile media presence. I also received support and requests for collaboration with several educational psychologists and other professionals across the UK”.

UK Research Office (UKRO) visit to BU on 27th November 2012

BU research, EU, Funding opportunities, Guidance, R & KE Operations, Research news, Research themes

BU welcomed Jo Frost, BU’s named contact for the UK Research Office (UKRO). Jo’s presentation was wide-ranging and hugely informative, outlining the current FP7 scheme and the forthcoming Horizon 2020 scheme, which is still going through the consultation process. It is expected that Horizon 2020 will focus on three priorities: ‘Excellent Science’, ‘Industrial Leadership’ and ‘Societal Challenges’. Jo also introduced the new Erasmus for All scheme.

All the slides from the day are available to BU staff only. These slides include many links to useful sources of information, if you would like to take part in the Horizon 2020 consultation or are planning ahead and want to prepare a submission to the many funding streams within this framework. Jo stressed the need to build networks and many suggestions are included in her presentation. These slides also give detailed information on the proposed budget allocations and themes within the three priority areas.

If you would like to enhance your knowledge of changes to EU funding, please refer to Jo’s slides. You can also contact Corrina Dickson, Paul Lynch, Sarah Katon or Emily Cieciura, who can help you develop your EU submissions.

BU staff can view the slides at: I:\R&KEO\Public\RDU\European Related\UKRO 2012 Presentation.

Working with the European Media Management Association

BU research

At the recent BU EU Funding day, I was asked if I would write a short blog post reflecting on my first 6 months working as the Deputy President of the European Media Management Association (EMMA). So here it is!

My first observation is that over the past few years BU has become more aware of the need to become more externally focussed and integrated into a range of high quality networks. As far as my field of Media Management is concerned, EMMA provides a great platform. It also provides an excellent network to develop a range of collaborative activities at institutional and individual level, and to gain different cultural perspectives on the subject domain.  

Being active in such an organisation requires commitment, but the rewards have been excellent in terms of working with European Board members, getting access to a new network and the ‘local’ knowledge that each person brings to the table. BU also bid for and won the right to host the EMMA Annual Conference, which has traditionally been held in major European or capital cities. Being a part of a European association has now moved the conversation from “where is Bournemouth…is it near London?” to “we’re looking forward to working with BU”. From my perspective that’s a quantum leap in our profile!

BU now has an EU Network Fund and I’d encourage you to use this as a springboard to engage with a range of European stakeholders.

My term as Deputy President has another 18 months to run and I’m looking forward to the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead!

London 2012 – BU Creative & Digital Economies Exhibition

Whilst the excitement of the London 2012 Olympics fades into the memory, many stakeholders are turning their attention to idea of ‘Legacy’.

A successful application to the BU Small Grants Scheme enabled a small team in the Media School to promote our Creative & Digital Economies Research Theme at the Olympic venue in Weymouth. Working in partnership with UK Trade & Investment, we curated an exhibition of work by leading South West based creative businesses.  This project provided a unique opportunity to associate BU with an enviable and well-respected collection of successful innovators, whilst showcasing our engagement with the Creative & Digital Economies.

The exhibition was very successful and attracted over 100 local and national Creative Industries businesses. One of the recurring themes during conversations with these companies was the need for a greater understanding of appropriate business models, and in particular, how to develop new media technologies that translate into products and services.

The exhibition undoubtedly provided a unique opportunity associate BU with a once in a life time event, but there were more tangible outputs in the form of;

  • Exploring the potential for a KTP project with Entertainment One.
  • Scoping the potential for a joint Cisco Olympic legacy project.
  • Developing a dialogue with two local authorities for them to be involved in the BU Festival of Learning next year.
  • Using the local creative business network for a grant application to the Creative Industries iNets

 

Engaging students: The Research Apprenticeship Summer Scheme in the Psychology Research Centre

BU research, Fusion, Uncategorized

In the last round of applications to the Fusion Investment Fund Dr Ben Parris, Dr Sarah Bate and Professor Sine McDougall from the Psychology Research Centre applied for, and were awarded, funds to pay for five summer placement positions that enabled our most promising students to gain a greater insight into life as researchers on a full-time basis. For a period of 9 weeks the students became part of one of the research laboratories in Psychology.  The students were responsible for experiment preparation, data collection, and data preparation and joined in lab discussions. Three RA positions were open calls; two were allied to REF impact case studies. All 2nd year students were invited to apply for the positions. Linking in with the employability strand on the undergraduate course the students were asked to provide an up-to-date CV and a 500-word summary on how the summer placement scheme would benefit them in their future career. The five selected candidates were housed in P106, which was converted into dedicated office space where the RAs could base themselves over the summer period and interact with each other and with postgraduate students and members of staff.

The scheme had a large impact on research. The five students on the scheme contributed to literature reviews, data collection, experiment programming and lab discussions for several members of staff in the Psychology Research Centre. Whilst they were each allied to a particular member of staff, others in the Centre sought their help when there was a bit of down time on the main project on which they were working. Whilst it is too early to list research outputs that have benefitted from this scheme, clearly the data collected, the literature reviewed, and the experiments programmed have all contributed towards the research goals of members of the Psychology Research Centre. Overall, data from over 200 participants were collected at a time when it is particularly difficult to recruit and test participants. Moreover, given that the scheme represents effective training for those seeking a career in academia, the full-time positions gave students the opportunity to engage in professional practice. Furthermore, by allying two positions with impact case studies the scheme involved their engagement with bodies external to the university (e.g. Poole Hospital).

Feedback from the students themselves provides useful insight into the utility of the scheme to them. All students reported great satisfaction with the scheme, having learned how to conduct a piece of research properly. They report having learned useful technical skills that they can apply to their final year projects. Most importantly they report direct benefits for their final year of study. Not only have they used their time wisely in thinking about the project which forms a large part of their final year (and degree as a whole) but the students reported that one of the biggest benefits was improvements in article reading skills.  Two of the students commented how extra reading for lectures now seems a lot easier; they can now read and extract important information in half the time.  This has enabled them to explore a much broader range of papers, which has increased their understanding of Psychology.  One student wrote ‘My general understanding of Psychology has been greatly improved, igniting a much stronger passion for the subject than I have ever felt before and the impact that this has had on my University work is extremely valuable to me’. Another wrote ‘Since starting back in term one, I have found that reading journal articles has become an easier process for me. I am now able to look at any article from any topic area and understand more fully what I’m reading, and where to go to find the information that is relevant for the task at hand’. As a final example, one of this year’s RAs wrote ‘The opportunity to continue to study, conduct research and become more familiar with programs such as SPSS throughout the summer means that the return to the final year is considerably less daunting and I feel more confident about designing and conducting my own study’.

A final important consequence of this scheme neatly highlights one of the benefits of fusion.  Admittedly an unintended consequence of the scheme, engaging potential researchers of the future had the consequence of making researchers of the present feeling somewhat trapped in the past. One of the apprentices took it upon himself to introduce us to the potential of Twitter and Facebook for participant recruitment. This has now been incorporated into our participant recruitment strategy. The Facebook site attracted 80 ‘likes’ within a few days (I believe that number is now much higher) and has since been used to recruit participants.  This will increase the efficiency with which all members of the Psychology Research Centre complete research. In short, the masters became the apprentices.

Dr Maharaj Vijay Reddy to assess the impact of the Japanese Tohoku Tsunami

BU research

Congratulations to Dr Maharaj Vijay Reddy from the School of Tourism who has received a small grant from the Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation (GBSF) London for his pilot research on the impact of the Tohoku Pacific Tsunami.

The Tohoku Pacific earthquake (8.9 magnitude) and the tsunami that followed have had catastrophic impacts on Japan creating economic, nuclear and humanitarian crises in 2011. It has made detrimental impacts on the infrastructure, economy, environment, society and culture of North Eastern Japan. The forthcoming pilot project by Dr Reddy aims to explore the nature of the impact on the tourism industry of the North East Japan, identify local collaboration and the priorities for future in-depth research to benefit the socio-economic revival of the tourism dependent communities and local businesses in North East Japan.

Dr Reddy commented ‘the small grant from the Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation will hugely help me to investigate the Japanese tsunami impacts on tourism and develop local collaboration with researchers in Japan for in-depth research’. Dr Reddy is a member of BU’s Grants Academy and is an expert working on natural disasters. He has successfully conducted larger projects for international agencies including UNESCO HQ Paris on the 2004 Asian tsunami, the worst natural disaster in the recent history.

Muslim international students and media representations of Islam

BU research, Featured academics

In January 2012, Dr Lorraine Brown from the School of Tourism and Professor Barry Richards from the Media School won £2000 from the Research Development Fund to conduct research on the impact of media representations of Muslims and of Islam on the lived experiences of international Muslim students.

The aim of this unique collaborative project was to make a contribution to the literature on the international student experience, and to academic understanding of sojourner perceptions of media images and how these shape the sojourn experience.

25 interviews were undertaken with international Muslim students. These have been transcribed and thematically analysed. Themes derived from analysis include: media consumption; perceptions of representations of Islam; impact of perceived representations on the international sojourn and well-being; impact of perceived representations on host attitudes towards and treatment of Muslims in the UK; correcting negative image of Islam through positive narratives and accurate representations of the faith.

Findings have been written up into two journal articles, which will be submitted in 2013.

The first article concerns the profile of media consumption, focusing on the media students consume and the perceptions formed of how Islam is represented in the media. The second article looks at the implications of negative representations of Islam for well-being, including consequences for self-esteem, identity and satisfaction with the sojourn.

The next 3 Leisure and Recreation Theme Seminars

Uncategorized

The Leisure and Recreation Theme is continuing it seminar series with:

  • Our Christmas get together  on Wednesday 12 December, 1.00-2.30pm, TAG 20 when we will be focusing on the work of two Post Graduate Researchers working within the theme with  presentations looking at travel life history and the co-creation of festival experiences followed by discussion and seasonal refreshments!

Then in the new year we will be looking at two diverse subjects

On  Wednesday 30th January at 2.00pm. TAG 01  Dr Andrew Adams will be talking about Sport and Human Rights

And then on Wednesday 27th February at 2.00pm. TAG01 Paola Palmer will be MAD about the wreck http://blogs.bournemouth.ac.uk/research/2012/08/21/mad-about-the-wreck-project-launch-15-august-poole-museum/ 

Please put the dates in your diaries. Further information from sbeer@bournemouth.ac.uk

At an early stage in your research career? Then come to one of our ECR Forums!

BU research, Training

Over the past few months we have run a series of forums for academic colleagues who are at an early stage in their research career.  You can find out more about the September session here

The forums will be open, informal sessions where you can meet with a group of experienced academics and members of R&KEO to discuss anything you like to do with research. From publications to projects to funding to research strategy we will be on hand to help and advise. Lunch / refreshments will be provided so booking is essential

The next forum will be held on 11 December 12:30 – 15:00 Casterbridge, Talbot Campus and you will need to book to confirm your attendance.

UK Dementia Congress 7th Annual Conference

BU research, Uncategorized

In late October 2012 the UK Dementia Congress hosted its 7th annual conference at the Hilton Hotel in Brighton, which was attended by two members of the BUDI team (Clare Cutler and Ben Hicks). A poster detailing a recent BUDI project around Dementia Friendly Tourism was accepted and displayed alongside other posters highlighting innovative and exciting research. The conference was attended by many professionals, academics, service providers and service users. This was a wonderful opportunity for BUDI to showcase current research and to be able to liaise with others currently working in the field of dementia.

CIPPM reports on Open Standards in Government IT Procurement

BU research, Featured academics

The Centre for Intellectual Property Policy & Management (CIPPM) has recently completed two reports commissioned by the UK Cabinet Office to assist the Government formulate a policy on Open Standards in Government IT Procurement.  The policy was published and adopted on the 1st November 2012. http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/news/government-bodies-must-comply-open-standards-principles

On page 8 of the Government’s document justifying its policy decision, the role of the CIPPM is explained as follows:

“The Centre for Intellectual Property Policy and Management (CIPPM) at the University of Bournemouth was commissioned to undertake the analysis of the evidence submitted. Cabinet Office has published this as an independent report (see the Cabinet Office website: http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/resource-library/open-standards-consultation-documents). The methodology for the analysis is also provided.

During the course of the consultation, Cabinet Office commissioned Open Standards in Government IT: A Review of the Evidence (also available on the Cabinet Office website) by the CIPPM. The review looked at economic and legal aspects of introducing an open standards policy for government IT, including an appraisal of costs and benefits. Bournemouth University published drafts for peer review and following this it has now been published by Cabinet Office.

The independent analysis and research elements were undertaken to ensure that due consideration was given to the complex evidence base and that a neutral analysis of the consultation responses is distinguishable from the policy decisions taken by the Government in light of the consultation exercise.”

The review of the evidence on the competition and innovation effects of open standards in IT systems was led by Sally Weston, a commercial lawyer and Head of Law at Bournemouth University, and Professor Martin Kretschmer, Director of the Centre for Intellectual Property Policy and Management. They have also drawn on the expertise of economics professor Jenifer Piesse.

Dr Marcella Favale, CIPPM research fellow, led on the analysis of responses to the consultation process (which included online responses and roundtable discussions), using a social science approach combining grounded theory for identifying patterns of argument and quantifying these by type of respondent. It is highly unusual for a public consultation exercise to be analysed in the manner, treating responses as data to be analysed under a rigorous and transparent methodology. CIPPM has developed a pioneering capacity in this field.

Professor Martin Kretschmer and Sally Weston comment on their review of the evidence:

“Although there is a lack of quantitative evidence on precise cost savings from adopting open standards there are abundant examples where an open standards policy has been adopted with consequent benefits. The literature identifies few downside risks. The challenges appear to lie in the manner of implementation so that potential pitfalls, such as adopting the wrong standard, are avoided while maximising potential gains from increased interoperability, such as more competitive procurement and benefits to SMEs and citizens. The evidence does not support the need to offer intellectual property rights to write good interfaces.” 

The government’s published response to the Consultation cites the CIPPM studies on pp. 9, 14, and 20:

Page 9: “The role of the Government in this instance is that of procurement rather than market intervention and the Bournemouth report highlights that in this case: ‘arguments suggesting that royalties on standards are essential to reward and encourage innovation are not clear cut and the balance of interests is in fact far more nuanced.’”

Page 14: “The review of evidence by Bournemouth University noted that patents are an important means of protecting the value of software and can be effective revenue sources for the patent owner. However, issues exist in industry for example with regards to patents trolls and patent thickets – in the UK these are best considered by the Intellectual Property Office (for example through its work on implementing the Hargreaves Review).”

Page 20: “However in terms of getting a picture of compatibility with European policies and legislation, the response from the consultation was inconclusive. Therefore, in drafting the policy and principles for open standards, we have drawn on legal and economic evidence presented in other sections to ensure that our approach is consistent with our European obligations. We have also considered the evidence presented in the Bournemouth review and drawn on the expertise of government officials in other departments.”

HEA Teaching Development Grants – Collaborative Scheme

Funding opportunities, Research news

The HEA have announced the call for the next round of Teaching Development Grants  (collaborative grant scheme).

The collaborative grant scheme invites proposals from two or more departments or other groupings within or between HEIs that support the enhancement of learning and teaching.

Successful applications will demonstrate scope for long-term impact, and provision for evaluation and dissemination will be clearly defined. The hosting institution will be expected to contribute towards the project in the form of match funding.

The project lead must be a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and the lead institution must be a subscriber to the Higher Education Academy. Proposals submitted under the Collaborative scheme may request up to £60,000 from the Higher Education Academy. Projects will run for eighteen months.

  • Call opens – Monday 7 January 2013
  • Deadline for submissions – 5pm on Thursday 28 February 2013

If you are interested in  this scheme, please inform Caroline O’Kane by Friday, 30th November.  The HEA will only make 7 awards in total.  If multiple bids from BU are anticipated, we expect to set up an internal competition, to ensure that only the strongest applications are submitted.