Category / Knowledge Exchange

Creative Industries – new 5 year strategy

Business Engagement, innovation, international, Knowledge Exchange, Knowledge Exchange and Impact Team

BFX 0716

The Creative Industries Council’s new 5 year strategy proclaims amazing news for the Creative Industries. With the sector growing at 8.9% a year (making it the second fastest growing sector), the UK’s Creative Industries is vital to the UK’s economy.

The 2016 strategy refresh is demanding but attainable, with a focus on driving economic value, through support for business growth, job growth, exports and inward investment.  The sector seeks to build on existing trade relationships and to unlock the potential of the sector in international markets with a primary focus on the USA and key territories in Europe, Asia and the Middle East.  Review the Nesta/Creative England report on the Geography of Creativity . This includes rich content about  regional opportunities.

The Geography of Creativity in the UK

Business Engagement, Knowledge Exchange, Knowledge Exchange and Impact Team

nesta_logo

In this report, in partnership with Creative England, NESTA have used the latest data and official definitions to map the creative industries in the UK. The  goal is to provide a data resource to demonstrate the economic significance of the creative industries across the country, and inform policies to strengthen them further.

Findings

  • The creative industries are becoming more important in local economies across the UK. Between 2007 and 2014 they became more important in local business population in 9 out of every 10 locations.
  • Identified 47 creative clusters across the UK. London and the South East are important components of the UK creative industries, but so are the North, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. These clusters grew their creative employment by 28% between 2007 and 2014
  • The UK’s geography of creativity isn’t only about ‘hip creative cities’,  clusters in creative conurbations across the country have also been identifed.
  • Creative communities in different parts of the country are working together across cluster and administrative boundaries. The geography of the UK creative industries is an interconnected system.

Policy recommendations

  • Support the development of clusters outside of London and the South East
  • Continue efforts to share the benefits of London’s status as a global creative industries hub across the UK
  • Local Enterprise Partnerships and universities should consider what more they can do to address the strengths and weaknesses within their particular area, such as an over reliance on large firms or growing links between graduate talent pools and creative clusters
  • Networks of UK creative industries should strive to maintain their global reach.

(This work contains statistical data from ONS which is Crown Copyright. The use of the ONS statistical data in this work does not imply the endorsement of the ONS in relation to the interpretation or analysis of the statistical data. This work uses research datasets which may not exactly reproduce National Statistics aggregates.)

Download the full report.

Events for innovators, entrepreneurs and investors

Business Engagement, Events, Info Days, innovation, Knowledge Exchange, Knowledge Exchange and Impact Team

events

Innovate UK supports many events that bring together innovators, successful entrepreneurs and investors. At the events information and advice  is available highlighting the type of support and funding that is currently available. Find and more and register for upcoming events:

Venturefest Manchester – Bridgewater Hall, Manchester, M2 3WS
Date: 21 September 2016
View speaker line up
Find out more & register >>

Venturefest Wales – SSE SWALEC, Cardiff, CF11 9XR
Date: 28 September 2016
View the full programme
Find out more & register >>

Venturefest Scotland – Glasgow Science Centre, Glasgow, G51 1EA
Date: 1 September 2016
View the agenda
Find out more & register >>

New Scientist Live – ExCeL London, E16 1XL
Date: 22 – 25 September 2016
We will be attending the New Scientist Live event where our Chief Executive, Dr Ruth McKernan MBE, will be talking about Therapies of the Future on Friday 23rd September.
See what’s on
Find out more & register >>

Low Carbon Vehicle Event 2016 – Millbrook, Bedford, MK45 2JQ
Date: 14 – 15 September 2016
Our stand will showcase some of our many successful LCV projects and be an opportunity to meet the Innovate UK and KTN team.
View the Seminar Programme
Find out more & register >>

Innovate 2016  – Manchester Central
Date: 2 – 3 November 2016.
Innovate 2016 is  Innovate UK’s  flagship event showcasing the very best of innovation talent and global opportunities for businesses.
Find out more & register >>

Why not update  Innovate UK with your location so you can receive relevant communications including events in your area Update my location>>

 

Higher Education Innovation Fund (HEIF)

HEIF, Impact, innovation, Knowledge Exchange, Knowledge Exchange and Impact Team

andrew archery

As HEIF 5+1  funding came to an end  on 31 July after a run of 12 months , there is no time to stop for breath as the wheels of knowledge exchange continue to turn and HEIF 5+1+1 gears up –  running from 1 August 2016 until 31 July 2017.

Following a competitive call, (with an increase in applications from previous years) twelve projects have been identified to accelerate the ethos of knowledge exchange and innovation at BU.

Progress updates will be posted by the projects teams during the year and you can follow their progress on a number of channels including the research blog . A list of the projects has been included at the bottom of this post.

For further information about knowledge exchange opportunities including HEIF feel free to contact Jayne Codling within RKEO.

PI  

Project Title

 
Alexander Pasko Establishing a network to disseminate the results of SHIVA project aimed to provide virtual sculpting tools for users with wide range of disabilities
Alison McConnell Development and validation of a mobile device App to reduce blood pressure
Andrew Whittington Sherlock’s Window: improving accuracy of entomological forensics at post-mortem criminal investigation using combined cuticular hydrocarbon and internal metabolite analysis.
Bogdan Gabrys Data Science and Analytics Training and Engagement Services for Business
Dan Franklin Using flow cytometry to monitor harmful algae in coastal waters: establishing a regional testing arena in Poole Harbour with global benefits
Elizabeth Franklin (Liz) ECO-CODING: Creating a centre for DNA Meta-barcoding Ecology at BU
Kevin McGhee Empowering service users: Assessing the potential benefits of Psychiatric Genetic Counselling
Matthew Bennett Dinosaurs to Forensic Science: Digital, Tracks and Traces
Pippa Gillingham Towards improving the condition of natural and cultural capital in Dorset and Hampshire
Sarah Bate Superior Face Recognition: Generating Knowledge Exchange with National and International Security Agencies
Tom Davis Increasing access to Music: Music Technology in Special Educational Needs (SEN) settings.
Wen Tang PLUS+: Police Learning Using Simulations: Impact Evidence Gathering

Innovate 2016 – Spotlight on innovation event

Events, innovation, Knowledge Exchange, Knowledge Exchange and Impact Team

events

Hosted by UKTI and Innovate UK, Innovate 2016 is a two day event showcasing the very best of innovation talent and global opportunities for businesses. The event includes:

  • an exhibition of the most cutting edge innovations
  • inspirational keynotes from some of the most respected industry thought leaders
  • discussions with international buyer and investors
  • fantastic networking opportunities
  • in-depth seminars on key market trends
  • a business Support Zone highlighting the breadth of Government support for innovation

The event will be held 2-3 November in Manchester.

Click here to find out more.

Interactive documentary launched – Psychiatric Genetic Counselling Research Project

Business Engagement, HEIF, Impact, innovation, Knowledge Exchange, Knowledge Exchange and Impact Team

eye-helix-logo-1100x500

Media and Journalism students Chelsea Nwasike and Grace Brewer have developed an interactive documentary to illustrate the project including the two recent workshops that are helping to transform approaches to psychiatric genetic counselling.

Genetic counsellors and researchers who attended the European and international workshops were interviewed and included in an interactive platform, along with videos from Dr Kevin McGhee and a ‘mental health jar’ demonstration video.

Dr Kevin McGhee explained: “By expanding healthcare professionals understanding of genetics and mental illness and providing a way for people around the world to view these discussions from the workshops, we want to raise awareness and encourage people to take better care of their mental health.

Funded by the Higher Education Innovation Fund (HEIF) find out more about this project on the BU Research Website.

 

Digital Economy – Emerging and Enabling Technologies Workshop

Business Engagement, Events, Info Days, innovation, Knowledge Exchange, Knowledge Exchange and Impact Team

InnovateUK_LogoA_Interim_RGBx320govuk[1]

As part of its strategy development for Emerging and Enabling Technologies, Innovate UK are in the process of re-thinking its strategy for the Creative Economy.

The strategy will show the opportunities for UK companies, the barriers to realising those opportunities and the intervention that Innovate UK and its partners will take to help UK companies to achieve success.

There are two worksops being run in London on 17 August.  In this workshop, Innovate UK will share its early, straw-man thoughts , see input, and together design a strategy which describes a future of working together to achieve complementarity, joined up working and great successes for UK innovation.

This workshop is necessary for Innovate UK to launch its strategy at Innovate 2016 on the 2 November.

To register click the links below:

Morning workshop

Afternoon workshop

New business and university collaboration platform

Business Engagement, innovation, Knowledge Exchange, Knowledge Exchange and Impact Team

NCUB-Logo-Large

konfer has been developed to faciliate easier access to the university sector for the business community, by collating a large amount of information all on one platform. UK universities are bursting with innovation  and  world-class academics who are keen to collaborate with industry, charities and the public sector.

konfer was created by the National Centre for Universities and Business (NCUB) to make this astonishing wealth of expertise and resources more accessible. Working in partnership with the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) and Research Councils UK (RCUK), konfer brings knowledge and growth to businesses, valuable exposure for university talent, and future prosperity for the UK.

 

When a business owner spots an opportunity, konfer supports the journey from finding a research partner and funding to planning and co-creation. It does this by giving direct access to:

  • 8000 academics
  • 11,000 facility and equipment listings
  • 800,000 web pages from university sites and social media
  • 22,000 YouTube videos from university channels
  • 10,000 news, funding and events articles from curated feeds
  • 50,000 publicly funded research projects

konfer brings knowledge and growth to businesses, valuable exposure for university talent, and future strength for the UK economy.

Learn more

 

NCUB want  konfer to be as useful as possible, so  access to the  Alpha version of the site is available. No need for passwords or user names – just dive straight in. https://konfer.online

This means things may be a little rough around the edges and there may be some bugs to be  squished ! But,  hope  by sharing the site early,  hope to consider suggestions fro improvements. Planned live date is erly in the New Year.  Feedback can be emailed  konfer@ncub.co.uk . For more information on this platform and NCUB in general contact Jayne Codling within RKEO.

DfT Transport Technology Research Innovation Grants now open

Business Engagement, Funding opportunities, innovation, Knowledge Exchange, Knowledge Exchange and Impact Team

transport

The Department for Transport (DfT) opened on  Monday (25 July)  the latest round of its Transport Technology Research Innovation Grant (T-TRIG) to support technology innovation in the transport sector.

The grant offers 100% funding for projects in three separate calls:

  • An open call for new transport ideas
  • A targeted call for solutions to challenges in aviation security
  • A targeted call for Intelligent Transport Systems

T-TRIG provides seed funding to early-stage science, engineering or technology innovations that have potential for advancing the UK transport system.

The funding scheme is open to anyone, typically micro, small and medium-sized businesses or academia, to support research projects that could lead to the development of successful new transport products, processes or services.

KTN is supporting these calls, including a series of webinars, led by DfT officials that will provide details of the opportunities, answer questions and help guide potential applicants on how best to present their ideas.

Successful applicants will be awarded fully-funded grants of up to £25,000 for the open call. For the targeted calls, there’s a budget of £150,000 to fund three to six projects in Intelligent Transport Systems targeted call and £300,000 for the Aviation projects.

On the other hand, are you buying or selling an aviation company? You can then even find aviation businesses that are for sale, there are several pages online that list them like https://trufortebusinessgroup.com/aviation-businesses-for-sale/ so have a look.

Schedule of the Competitions

This next round of T-TRIG will be launched on Monday 25 July 2016.

The entry deadline for all three calls will be Monday 22 August, with projects running between 19 September 2016 and 9 January 2017.

Webinars this week for direct access to Department for Transport

To find out the full details of these grants and for the opportunity to ask questions to DfT officials, please register for one or more of the following webinars:

The schedule for these competitions requires a relatively short time to prepare applications, so early registration and preparation of questions is recommended.

For further details see the Department for Transport’s Competition page Transport-Technology Research Innovation Grant (T-TRIG)

If you are interested in submitting to any of the above calls you must contact your  RKEO Funding Development Officer with adequate notice before the deadline.

For more funding opportunities that are most relevant to you, you can set up your own personalised alerts on Research Professional. If you need help setting these up, just ask your School’s/Faculty’s Funding Development Officer in  RKEO or view the recent blog post here.

If thinking of applying, why not add notification of your interest on Research Professional’s record of the bid so that BU colleagues can see your intention to bid and contact you to collaborate.

Innovation Vouchers – scheme closing shortly

Funding opportunities, innovation, Knowledge Exchange, Knowledge Exchange and Impact Team

InnovateUK_LogoA_Interim_RGBx320govuk[1]

The deadline for Round 14 claims is 31 July 2016.

In accordance with the terms and conditions of the voucher offer, there will not be any extensions to the claim deadline and any claims submitted after the 31 July 2016 deadline will not be processed for payment. (All Round 14 voucher holders have been sent an information pack providing detailed information on the claim process.)

Any queries should be directed to our Customer Support Service at support@innovateuk.gov.uk or 0300 321 4357.

 Future of Innovation Vouchers

This dedicated website will close shortly.

While Innovation Vouchers will remain part of Innovate UK’s suite of business support products and may be used in future, there are no current plans for future rounds.

Further details on current funding available from Innovate UK is available on  the website, www.innovateuk.gov.uk

Check out Innovate UK – Delivery Plan 2016 – 2017 for more details on sectors and funding opportuntites.

Innovate UK – emerging & enabling technologies – funding opportuntites

Funding opportunities, innovation, Knowledge Exchange, Knowledge Exchange and Impact Team

space SBRI

The Emerging and Enabling Technologies sector group is the new home for  support for early stage (emerging), cross-cutting (enabling) and broad scope (open) innovation across whole economy. (See the Delivery Plan 2016 to 2017 for more information on all the sector groups .)

Although this sector group contains the word technologies in its title, Innovate UK’s actions are guided by the principle that: “no-one buys technology; they buy what technology does for them.”    

The focus here is very early stage technologies, those still emerging, or only recently emerged, from the research base.

By ‘emerging’,  recognise  those technologies, methods and approaches developed in the UK’s scientific research base – primarily in universities – that allow us  to do things that simply couldn’t be done before (or could only be done in theory).

What these emerging technologies have in common is the potential to create totally new value propositions (and so to disrupt markets). Examples include graphene and quantum technologies.

Whilst sectors like Manufacturing and Materials or Health and Life Sciences turnover several hundreds of billions of pounds globally per year, by contrast, many of these early-stage, emerging technology sectors have very low, or even zero turnovers, typically below £10 million pa when we pick them up.

Examples of other high impact technologies include:

  • space and satellites
  • electronics, photonics and sensors
  • robotics and autonomous systems

It has now been admirably demonstrated that:

  • satellite technologies can be used in the fight against illegal fishing
  • advanced sensors can help in the earlier diagnosis of disease
  • compound semi-conductors can manage electrical power more effectively
  • robots can perform tasks in environments too dangerous for people to work in

You can follow Innovate UK on:

     

Defence Academic Pathways – Validation and verification of intelligent systems

Business Engagement, Events, innovation, Knowledge Exchange, Knowledge Exchange and Impact Team

events
PraxisUnico is working with the Defence Academic Pathways (DAP) group on this free event for the research community to explore research needs in the validation and verification of intelligent systems.

Intelligent systems may offer great benefits in being able to adapt to a changing environment and offer complex, rapid decision making made beyond human reach. Research into intelligent systems is needed to enable and improve confidence in their safe and secure employment in the public space. There is a clear need to ensure that intelligent systems will operate as expected, exhibit desirable behaviours and deliver the required outcomes in rapidly changing environments.

This workshop hopes to identify those future research themes required for the correct validation and verification of intelligent systems whilst ensuring that potentially autonomous behaviour remains under human control, and will employ a number of scenarios where the use of an intelligent system or groups of intelligent systems would provide value. Breakout groups will explore each scenario to determine the evidence required to sufficiently validate and verify safe and secure intelligent systems.

The workshop aims and objectives are;

  • To understand the validation and verification challenges raised by each scenario.
  • To determine the research themes required to meet these validation and verification challenges.
  • To inform legislative bodies on any necessary verification and validation solutions to ensure safe and secure employment of intelligent systems.
  • To provide a forum that can be used to strengthen research applications submitted to the EPSRC via the Standard Mode.

DAP is a partnership directed by Dstl and includes major industrial partners BAE Systems, GE, MBDA, Leonardo UK, NPL, QinetiQ and Thales, together with representatives from EPSRC, Innovate UK and a University liaison advisor.

The DAP partnership represents a significant number of the 15 most frequently cited companies from the Research Excellence Framework (REF) impact case study analysis and the data on collaborative projects compiled by the Dowling Review. The companies represented by DAP have a proven track record for effective university-business collaboration; DAP was created to facilitate this process through e.g. assigning IP rights arising from collaborations to the university partner as standard.

This event, supported by DAP, is free of charge, and will feature workshops to explore research needs in the validation and verification of intelligent systems. The event will take place at the UK’s technology and innovation centre for intelligent mobility, the Transport Systems Catapult (Milton Keynes)on Thursday 8 September 2016.

Who should attend and why:

The workshop should be attended by research professionals involved with intelligent systems, machine learning, robotics, or the validation and verification of software systems. The intention of this workshop is to scrutinise potential exploitation paths to support the definition of future research themes. For further information please contact DAP@mail.dstl.gov.uk

About PraxisUnico

supports KEC in the UK, and works with key stakeholders and partners to promote best practice in the sector

Successful Knowledge Exchange and Commercialisation (KEC) is essential to the economic growth of the UK.

PraxisUnico develops knowledge exchange and technology transfer professionals with our world-leading training, connect members and stakeholders at our events and promote best practice for our sector. We facilitate interactions between the public sector research base, business and government; bringing together key stakeholders to debate, educate and inform.

 

Big data – helping cities solving planning challenges

Business Engagement, innovation, Knowledge Exchange, Knowledge Exchange and Impact Team

Data-science-history

A data platform developed with support of Innovate UK is helping big cities to plan services such as transport, education and housing.

A data science business is helping London to plan its services thanks to a new decision-making platform. Mastodon C won a £2 million SBRI (Small Business Research Initiative) contract in a ‘future cities’ competition to find ways of meeting the challenges faced by urban areas.

Mastodon C is working with the Greater London Authority to develop and test its Witan platform in a project supported by Innovate UK.

Witan provides modelling tools and data management processes to help solve real challenges faced by cities and their partners, and is already being used by 33 London boroughs. Witan is being used by the London boroughs to see how latest housing projections will affect the spread of population up to 2041. The work used to take specialist staff weeks to do but can now be generated in minutes. The results will help council officials to plan many services including where the demand is likely to be for services such as school places, waste disposal, and housing.

Francine Bennett, chief executive and co-founder of Mastodon C, said: “Our motto is ‘big data done better’. That has two meanings. What we do with big data, we do very well technically. We are also interested in better applications of big data and data science, building applications that improve people’s lives as well as work for the business.”

Click here for the full story.

 

 

.

 

Robotics and autonomous systems: apply for innovation funding

Business Engagement, Funding opportunities, Impact, innovation, Knowledge Exchange, Knowledge Exchange and Impact Team

robot_in_tomorrows_world

Competiton is open now!

There will be a briefing webinar on 27 July 2016

Find out more about this competition and apply

In brief:

Innovate UK is inviting businesses to apply for a share of £5 million to develop innovative applications of robotics and autonomous systems. Innovate UK and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) are to invest up to £5 million in robotics and autonomous systems (RAS) projects.

The aim of this competition is to help UK companies explore new RAS opportunities. It will enable them to develop capabilities for applications in many sectors of the UK economy.

We are looking for proposals that will speed up the development of RAS technologies towards demonstration and commercialisation.

Proposals can be for systems that are physical, for example a next generation robot. They can also be digital only, for example an automated decision-making system.

Robots that are independent of human control can learn, adapt and take decisions. These could revolutionise our economy and society over the next 20 years. Disruptive technologies related to RAS include mobile internet, automation of knowledge work, advanced robotics, and automated and autonomous vehicles.

These technologies have the potential for an annual economic impact of US$9.8 to US$19.3 trillion in 2025. The UK has world-leading strengths in the underlying science and engineering that contributes to RAS. It also has access to the markets that could exploit them.

Key information:

  • There will be a briefing webinar on 27 July 2016
  • The registration deadline is noon on 19 October 2016
  • The application deadline is noon on 26 October 2016
  • Projects should range in size from total costs of £50,000 to £500,000
  • Projects should last between 6 and 15 months
  • You must complete the work and incur, pay and claim for all costs before the end of March 2018
  • A business must lead the project
  • Projects with costs of £100,000 or above must be collaborative

Find out more about this competition and apply.

If you are interested in submitting to this  call you must contact your  RKEO Funding Development Officer with adequate notice before the deadline.

For more funding opportunities that are most relevant to you, you can set up your own personalised alerts on Research Professional. If you need help setting these up, just ask your School’s/Faculty’s Funding Development Officer in  RKEO or view the recent blog post here.

If thinking of applying, why not add notification of your interest on Research Professional’s record of the bid so that BU colleagues can see your intention to bid and contact you to collaborate.

Call For Contributions: Engage 2016

BU research, Events, Knowledge Exchange, Knowledge Exchange and Impact Team, Research communication, Uncategorized

Engage is the NCCPE’s annual conference, held in Bristol each year and providing an opportunity for all those interested in HEI public engagement to come together, to be inspired, challenged and refreshed.

Engage 2016 will be taking place on the 29th & 30th November, and they are now inviting expressions of interest from anyone who would like to make a contribution to the programme.

Featuring the finalists for this year’s Engage competition, the conference will celebrate the diversity of engaged practice across the UK. The conference will provide an opportunity both to take stock and to move forwards with our engagement work. Encouraging new ways of thinking about engagement and how to support it, the conference will provide stimulation and challenge, inspiring us to develop quality practice. What are the opportunities and challenges going forward? How can we draw on expertise inside and outside the sector to inform our thinking and our approach?

The NCCPE are looking for workshops, interactive experiences, dialogue events, performances, and conversations that catalyse new ways of thinking.

Contributions can be formatted as either a 1 hour workshop or a 10 minute interactive contribution, and must contribute to one or more of the following themes:

  • Culture change: creating a culture where engagement is valued and supported
  • Effective practice: sharing insights into high quality engagement practice
  • Engaged research: creating impactful research
  • Engaged students: the role of engagement within teaching and learning
  • New ideas: taking our thinking forward about the role of engagement within higher education

For more details, and to submit a session proposal, please see their website. The deadline for submissions is 13th September.

For more information, please contact Naomi Kay – nkay@bournemouth.ac.uk