Tagged / ICT

Horizon 2020 information / brokerage events – SC1 & LEIT

A number of EU-wide information events have been announced recently.

LEIT: ICT, Advanced Materials and Manufacturing

The Enterprise Europe Network, in partnership with Enterprise Ireland and the Spanish, Portuguese, Greek and British National Contract Points (NCPs), is organising an international partnering event on ICT, Advanced Materials and Manufacturing.

The event will take place on 4 July 2019 in Dublin and participation is free. The programme will include presentations from the European Commission, National Contact Points, CEO of the Irish Manufacturing Research Centre (IMR), and will provide a unique opportunity to pitch ideas and expertise in front of leading research organisations and cutting-edge innovators from across industry.

Registration will be open until 1 July 2019 and more information is available on the event’s webpage.

Societal Challenge 1 ‘Health, demographic change and wellbeing’

On 3 July in Brussels, the European Commission is holding an Open Info Day for the Horizon 2020 Societal Challenge 1 ‘Health, demographic change and wellbeing’. It will be a free, all-day event focusing on upcoming SC1 2020 calls for proposals, with an overall budget of €650 Million.

Draft agenda and registration are available on the event’s website.

Related to the Open Info Day, a free brokerage event is taking place on 4 July in Brussels. It is organised by the Health NCP Net 2.0 to provide the applicants with partnering opportunities. It is a separate event and requires registration by 31 May.

UKRO annual visit – presentations available on Brightspace

Funding opportunities

On Wednesday, 10th October 2018, BU staff had an opportunity to find out more about current EU funding opportunities. Delivered by BU institutional representative in Brussels, Andreas Kontogeorgos, presentations covered such topics as Brexit, forthcoming ICT calls, COST Actions and MSCA Innovative Training Networks.

Presentations are now available on Brightspace. Please navigate to UKRO 2018 section to access all presentations.

If you have an interest in applying to Horizon 2020 and other European funding, please make full use of BU’s subscription by registering to receive updates from UKRO. On UKRO website, you can access subscriber-exclusive support materials including news, call fact-sheets and UKRO events.

BU staff considering applying for any of these calls and other international funding, should contact international research facilitator Ainar Blaudums or other RKEO’s representatives at their faculties, for further information and support.

ERASMUS 2017: Promoting autonomy for people with dementia using ICT applications

The end of 2017 brought about the start of the second successful ERASMUS funded project for Dr Ben Hicks (psychology lecturer and member of ADRC) and Professor Wen Tang (Head of Creative Technology Department). Working alongside European partners from Slovenia (Alzheimer’s Slovenia), Greece (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki), Spain (Alzheimer’s Castellon and the University of Valencia) and Turkey (Alzheimer’s Turkey), the two year project aims to develop an e-platform that raises awareness and promotes the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to enhance the autonomy of people with dementia and their care partners.

The first meeting was held in Castellon, Spain, at the Universitat Jaume 1 on the 18-19th December 2017 and was attended by Ben and Natalia Adamczewska (ADRC). Over the course of two days, the proposed research plan and outcomes of the project were discussed in more detail and tasks were assigned to each of the European partners. This included establishing an Advisory Group of people with dementia, care partners and practitioners to inform the development of the project as well as conducting a review of best practice within this field.

Although it is only early days, there was a real buzz around the meeting, as the partners discussed the project and the potential beneficial impact it could have for people living with dementia across Europe. The second meeting for the project team is planned for April/May 2018.

If you would like further information on the research please contact Ben on bhicks@bournemouth.ac.uk

 

Policy and political scene this week: 25 May 2017

Welcome to this week’s political scene within research. Here is a summary of the week’s generic policy reports and releases, alongside new niche consultations and inquiries.

The role of EU funding in UK research and innovation

This week the role of EU funding in UK research and innovation has hit the headlines. Its an analysis of the academic disciplines most reliant on EU research and innovation funding at a granular level.

Jointly commissioned by Technopolis and the UK’s four national academies (Medical Sciences, British Academy, Engineering and Royal Society) it highlights that of the 15 disciplines most dependent on EU funding 13 are within the arts, humanities and social science sphere.

Most reliant on the EU funding as a proportion of their total research funding are Archaeology (38% of funding), Classics (33%) and IT (30%).

The full report dissects the information further considering the funding across disciplines, institutions, industrial sectors, company sizes and UK regions. It differentiates between the absolute value of the research grant income from EU government bodies, and the relative value of research grant income from EU government bodies with respect to research grant income from all sources, including how the EU funding interacts with other funding sources.

There are also 11 focal case studies, including archaeology and ICT. Here’s an excerpt from the archaeology case study considering the risks associated with Brexit and the UK’s industrial strategy:

“As archaeologists are heavily dependent on EU funding, a break away from EU funding sources puts the discipline in a vulnerable position. This is exacerbated by the fact that the UK is short of archaeologists and/or skilled workers active in the field of Archaeology because of the surge in large scale infrastructure projects (e.g. HS2, Crossrail, and the A14), which drives away many archaeologists from research positions.” Source

See the full report page 25 for particular detail on ICT and digital sector, and page 39 for archaeology. For press coverage see the Financial Times article.

Bathing Water Quality

The European Environment Agency published European Bathing Water Quality in 2016. It sees the UK as second to bottom in the league table for quality of bathing water. While 96.4% of British beaches were found safe to swim in last year 20 sites failed the annual assessment. Only Ireland had a higher percentage of poor quality bathing waters at 4%.

Report link: https://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/european-bathing-water-quality-in-2016

How and when to submit evidence to policy makers

This week Research Professional ran a succinct article encouraging researchers to think more about when and how they submit evidence to policy makers. Timing is key, policy makers often want information instantaneously and the article urges researchers to be responsive but pragmatic, including a pro-active approach of gently keeping key policy makers informed of new developments.

Researchers wanting to have a political impact may consider attending a UK Parliament Outreach and Engagement Service events.

 

Consultations and Inquiries

Responding to a select committee call for evidence is a great way for academics to influence UK policy. If you respond to a consultation or inquiry as a BU member of staff please let us know of your interest by emailing policy@bournemouth.ac.uk at least one week before you submit your response.

This week there are three new inquiries and consultations that may be of interest to BU academics.

Sports

A Scottish Parliament inquiry is seeking individual’s views on community-based approaches to removing barriers to participation in grassroots sport and physical activity, including how to promote volunteering. The committee is asking for views and examples on a range of questions, including:

  • Examples where a community based approach has been successful in removing barriers to participation in sport and physical activity?
  • Approaches that were particularly successful in increasing participation among certain social groups, like women, ethnic minorities, certain age-groups?
  • The barriers facing volunteers and how can they be overcome? The aim is to inform how Scotland might increase participation rates across all groups and sectors of society, respondents can select to answer only the most relevant questions.

The call for evidence closes on 30 June.

Body Image

The British Youth Council has opened an inquiry into body image and how the growth of social media and communications platforms has encouraged attitudes that entrench poor body image. Included among the inquiry questions are:

  • Has the growing use of social media and communications platforms amongst young people encouraged practices and attitudes that entrench poor body image? What is the link between “sexting” and body dissatisfaction?
  • Do internet companies, social media platforms or other platforms have a responsibility to tackle trends which entrench poor body image? What are they already doing in this area? What more should they be doing?
  • Are particular groups of young people particularly prone to poor body image, or less likely to seek help? What causes these trends?
  • In relation to young men and boys, minority ethnic groups, and those who self-identify as transgender: what are the specific challenges facing young people in these groups? How effective is existing support?
  • To what extent is dissatisfaction with body image contributing to the increase in mental health problems amongst children and young people?

The call for evidence closes on 16 June.

Drainage & Flooding

The Welsh government has opened a consultation on the implementation of sustainable drainage systems on new developments (schedule 3 of the Flood and Water Management Act 2010).

The consultation closes on 11 August.

 

HE Policy Update

You can also sign up to receive BU’s separate weekly HE policy update delivered direct to your inbox each Friday by emailing policy@bournemouth.ac.uk

 

Sarah Carter

Policy & Public Affairs Officer

EPSRC ICT ECR workshops

Funding opportunities, Guidance

EPSRC_logoHow many acronyms can you fit in one title?  The EPSRC are holding two two-day workshops for early career researchers in the areas of information and communication technologies:

The workshops will provide an update to EPSRC and ICT Theme strategies and policies, and guidance on applying for grants. The workshops will be attended by a number of EPSRC staff but also by experienced academics from across the ICT portfolio who will provide guidance and mentoring throughout the two days. The events will include a number of facilitated sessions covering topics such as impact from research, career development and a number of new ICT Theme priorities. They will also include opportunities for networking with other ECR colleagues and the previously mentioned mentors.

Target Audience

The event will be of greatest interest to ICT researchers that have completed a PhD (or equivalent qualification) within the previous ten years, are eligible to hold an EPSRC grant and hold few or no grants as Principal Investigator.

However, they do not wish to be prescriptive based on years of post-doctoral experience and welcome applications from prospective participants with a different pattern of academic experience, early career researchers based in industry and postdoctoral research assistants who are hoping to take lectureship positions in the near future. The internal assessment process will take into account the need for a balance of attendees across career stages.

Applying to Attend and Selection Procedure

Those wishing to attend the workshop should complete the short Expression of Interest (EoI) form on this page. This will be used to select participants based on their justification of attendance as described in their EoI submission. In addition, EPSRC will also ensure a balanced representation of organisation, research area, expertise and career stages.

Places are limited and the number of participants from a given organisation may have to be restricted in the event of multiple applications. EPSRC are committed to a policy of equal opportunities. Selection will primarily be based on justification of attendance. However, EPSRC is hoping to improve attendance by underrepresented groups at workshops and will consider this when selecting attendees.

Resources

If you are interested in applying to attend a workshop, please can you let the RKEO Funding Development Team know as we would be interested in receiving feedback on the workshop content.

New frontiers on tech – big data, the cloud and Internet of Things

Knowledge Exchange

Technology in the hands
IT giant, Intel Corporation, is undergoing a massive shift in strategy. While jobs fall by the wayside, Intel has its eye firmly on what analysts are calling ‘new frontiers in technology’, and there are signs that the other tech behemoths are set to follow suit.
Last week, Intel CEO Brian Krzanich outlined his strategy for the chip giant in the years ahead, as it struggles to move away from its dependence on the waning PC market.
The thrust of the new strategy is: ‘transforming Intel from a PC company to a company that powers the cloud and billions of smart, connected computing devices’ and this, says Krzanich, encompasses five core beliefs:
• The cloud is the most important trend shaping the future of the smart, connected world – and thus Intel’s future.
• The many “things” that make up the PC Client business and the internet of things are made much more valuable by their connection to the cloud.
• Memory and programmable solutions such as FPGAs will deliver entirely new classes of products for the data centre and the internet of things.
• 5G will become the key technology for access to the cloud  as we move toward an always-connected world.
• Moore’s Law will continue to progress and Intel will continue to lead in delivering its true economic impact.
For companies, these core beliefs form a clear virtuous cycle – the cloud and data center, the internet of things, and memory are all bound together by connectivity and enhanced by the economics of Moore’s Law. (Gordon Moore was an Intel co-founder so Moore’s Law is ingrained in the company’s psyche.)
Key to this is the “internet of things,” every device, sensor and console that has potential to connect to the cloud. This means that everything that a “thing” does can be captured as a piece of data, measured in real-time, and becomes accessible from anywhere. With this, cybersecurity is needed more than ever. Visit sites like https://privacera.com/platform/ for additional guidance or you can check out this site for additional reading on how companies like NetBrain are increasing the efficiency of network operation teams. You may also get expert advice from a crm consultant if you need help with crm cloud service.
Krzanich believes that: “the biggest opportunity in the internet of things is that it encompasses just about everything in our lives today – it’s ubiquitous. For most areas of industry and retail – from our shoes and clothes to our homes and cars – the internet of things is transforming everything and every experience. At Intel, we will focus on autonomous vehicles, industrial and retail as our primary growth drivers of the internet of things.”
In a time when technology is valued not just for the devices it produces, but for the experiences it makes possible, Intel is banking on the fact that a broader focus, and sharper execution will enable the company to take a lead in a smart, connected world.
Several major corporations have already taken the initiative to push frontier technology, such as Google with its Google Cardboard and Apple’s eventual (maybe?) 3D printer. Layoffs are the inevitable result and, in many cases, are already happening, as more and more companies find themselves having to look in new directions.
With Apple’s iPhone production on the decline comes more evidence that companies’ defining products won’t be what sustains them into the future and that Intel and Krzanich’s new focus on experiences rather than the devices that make these possible is the way to go.

Open for registration – Up to £2m funding for feasibility studies available

Business Engagement, Funding opportunities

Innovate UK  has launched a funding competition for feasibility studies with up to two million pounds funding available.

The competition is open only to small and micro companies (click here for eligibility) across the following technology sectors:

Advanced materials
Biosciences 
Electronics, Sensors & Photonics
Information & Communications Technology 

A briefing event for this competition was held on 25 November.  You can view the webinar recording here. 

For any queries on this competition, please contact support@innovateuk.org.

Free event on ICT in Horizon 2020!

Any information at this early stage as to what is coming up in Horizon 2020 is very useful and any events where you can meet with others in your field to build relationships and potential collaborations is invaluable. You can combine both of these by attending an ICT in Horizon 2020 half day event in Bristol on October 7th.

In partnership with the ICT Knowledge Transfer Network, the ICT National Contact Point and Deloitte UK, the  completely free information event will provide an introduction and update on funding support for R&D in the ICT sector under Horizon 2020.  You will to receive an overview of the proposed ICT Work Programme for 2014 and hear from speakers with extensive experience in EU funding participation so this looks to be a super event! You can find out more and book your place by clicking here.

Insight into what will be funded under ‘Health’ in Horizon 2020

Focus of Funding – what’s different? : Europe 2020 marks out the goal to increase the number of healthy life years by 24 months by 2020 and Horizon 29020 funding will be geared towards this, focusing on health and quality of European citizens, the growth and expansion of EU industry in this area and long-term sustainability and efficiency in health and social care systems. The health focus   of Horizon 2020 will therefore be the challenge of an ageing population across Europe and in particular the health inequalities within this. Horizon 2020 will seek to transform the challenges into opportunities, focusing on active ageing, integrated care, large efficiency gains of new care modules and looks at the financial aspect that the health care market is worth €3000bn and has 85 million consumers which is ever increasing. Horizon 2020 marks a paradigm shift of ageing from a societal challenge to a major opportunity; from a burden to an asset; from acute reactive care to preventative, proactive care; and from a focus on curing diseases to improving functioning. There will be an increased focus on dissemination; not just discovering new ways to help people live longer, but getting this to ordinary EU citizens so they can begin to change their lifestyle. Involving end users will be key.

 

Types of funding: The main areas of funding are addressing major age-prevalent chronic diseases; innovation in integrated care delivery systems and innovation in independent living and social inclusion. The approach to health care will be focused on combining demand and supply sides of innovation; building on existing instruments and new ones where necessary; ownership of key stakeholder willing to invest; large-scale deployment and awareness and best-practice sharing across Europe.   It looks as though calls will be issued under 6 themes:

  • Better adherence to medical treatment
  • Prevention of falls
  • Prevention of functional decline and frailty
  • Integrated care models
  • Independent living and active ageing
  • Age-friendly buildings, cities and environments

 

How can I prepare – finding Partners: The European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing is the first attempt to bring together interested parties from public and private sectors to deliver innovative solutions for an ageing society. The EIP website is currently being revamped, but this is a key time to sell your research expertise to others through this virtual marketplace. Advertising your areas of knowledge and skills can help you gain partners to submit for calls under Horizon 2020.

 

Researching ICT? This EU conference could be VERY beneficial for you

More than 4000 researchers, innovators, entrepreneurs, industry representatives, young people and politicians are expected to attend ICT 2013 in November.The event will focus on Horizon 2020 and includes conference presentations, networking sessions, investment forums. This is a key way to gather more info on what to expect under ICT Horizon 2020 calls and to network and gain a collaborative group. You can register for the event here.

Have your say about funding areas in Horizon 2020

So you want a say in how Horizon 2020 will be but not sure how? Well, there are a number of consultations open for you to have your say – participate and start to shape EC funding for the future.

Opening up Education through New Technologies: The objective of the consultation is to explore the need for EU action to promote the use of Open Educational Resources (OER) and of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in education. The consultation is carried out in the context of a Commission Communication on “Rethinking Skills” planned for the end of 2012 which will announce a new EU initiative on exploiting the potential contribution of ICTs and OERs to education and skills development. A further Commission Communication on this is expected in mid-2013.

Marine Knowledge 2020: From Seabed Mapping to Ocean Forecasting: The European Commission is proposing to create a digital seabed map of European waters by 2020 by collecting all existing data into one coherent database accessible to everyone. The consultation closes on 15 December 2012.

Fuel Cells and Hydrogen JTI under Horizon 2020: The Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH JU), a Public Private Partnership (PPP) set up between the European Commission and industry, was established in 2008. The research community also later joined the initiative. Its objective was to significantly accelerate the market introduction of the fuel cell and hydrogen technologies, in order to realise their potential as way to achieve a lower carbon energy system. The consultation aims at collecting the views of the wider public on the fuel cells and hydrogen sector, on research and innovation in this field in Europe, and in particular on the possible continuation of the FCH JU for the implementation of FCH research in Horizon 2020.

EC asks ICT firms why they don’t participate in funding programmes

Regular readers of the EU section of this blog will know that I harp on all the time about the importance of company engagement as partners in Horizon 2020. Well, this is becoming more and more apparent as time draws near to the first set of drafts for the new Horizon 2020 programme.

It was announced this month that the EC is funding a survey as part of a drive to increase the participation of companies from the information and communications technologies in future research programmes.

The survey aims to identify and characterise highly innovative ICT companies that do not participate in Framework projects, and assess why. The knowledge gained will be used to improve firms’ participation in Horizon 2020.

Now is the time to start making links with industry as much as you can!

ICT SMEs in Horizon 2020

As many of you will know from my previous blogposts, I am always emphasising the importance of enagaging SMEs for Horizon 2020. Last week the EC has funded a survey aimed at increasing the participation of innovative companies from the information and communications technologies (ICT) in future research programmes. The survey aims to identify and characterise highly innovative ICT companies that do not participate in Framework projects, and assess their reasons for non-involvement. This is expected to feed into recommendations to improve the participation of SMEs in Horizon 2020, in a final report due in February 2013.

This is further evidence that enagaging SMEs in your Horizon 2020 proposals will be essential, so start networking now 🙂

 

Get involved in an ICT consultation

The EC is exploring future developments for 2 of its Joint Technology Initiatives on electronic components and embedded computer systems under Horizon 2020 (Artemis and Eniac). There is a consultation currently open which will end in October; it has been suggested that the two initiatives should be merged as they cover similar elements. Have your say on what should happen by joining in the consultation.

FP7 ICT Internet of Things and Digital Enterprise UK Info Day

An free to attend infoday on funding opportunities under ICT Call  in the areas of the Internet of Things and digital enterprise will be held in London on 12 September 10am-4pm. It will  offer attendees the opportunity to network and share ideas as well as providing an overview of funding available in ICT Call 10 and future calls, including ongoing research, road mapping activities and collaborative groupings in Europe. While the event is free, you have to register in advance on the  the event webpage.

ICT Infoday on Collective Awareness Platforms for Social Innovation and Sustainable Social Changes

The info day on Collective Awareness Platforms is jointly organised by Queen Mary, University of London, and the European Commission. The event will launch the work programme for ‘Collective Awareness Platforms’ within the next ICT call.  Collective Awareness Platforms for Social Innovation and Sustainable Social Changes (CAPS) are ICT systems leveraging the emerging ‘network effect’ by combining open online social media, distributed knowledge creation and data from real environments (Internet of Things), in order to create new forms of social innovation.

The day will be made up of a brief presentation of the work programme for the next ICT Call 10 by the European Commission, followed by question and answers and an ideas workshop in the afternoon.