ITaaU Network+: Community Conference

Steve Brewer

This two day event will be an opportunity to bring together all those who have been involved in the ITaaU Network+ to date. All of the funded pilot projects and secondees will be represented.

We will also report back on all of our workshops. In addition, a series of keynote talks from experts in related fields will inspire and inform delegates and help set the agenda for future work in the area of IT utilities in the Digital Economy.

Keynote speakers:

- Joe McLeod, Global Design Director at ustwo
- Shenja Van Der Graaf, iMinds, Belgium
- Elizabeth Churchill, Director of Human Computer Interaction, eBay Research Labs at eBay Inc
- David De Roure, Professor of e-Research at University of Oxford, Director of the Oxford e-Research Centre
- Lizbeth Goodman, Professor of Inclusive Design & Chair of Creative Technology Innovation at University College Dublin
- Food Standards Agency, UK (TBC)

Further details about all of the speakers can be found on the right hand column of this edition of the newsletter.

Registration and further details: ITaaU Network meeting

Creative, Digital and IT industries: digital platforms for media production

Following on from the successful Brighton Fuse project, a scoping study was funded by the ESRC to investigate the viability of a similar study in the Bournemouth area. The two Universities in Bournemouth have fostered a cluster of graduates, research groups and studios that are making significant inroads into the creative digital sector. A fact that has been recognised by the Prime Minister in Prime Minster's Questions in a question about the recent British successes in the Oscars.

The key point about the Bournemouth Digital Pier scoping study is the idea that localised networking between regional clusters offers significant economic and cultural benefits for emergent creative and technical hubs in all parts of the country. A point that was acknowledged by Bournemouth East MP Tobias Ellwood who joined part of the workshop.

Dick Penny, Chief Executive of Bristol Watershed media centre, launched the day by explaining how Bristol has achieved great success through the role of Watershed as a connecting hub for the University, the City Council and the diverse and vibrant creative community across the City. As Dick explained, Watershed is an uncomplicated organisation in a complex world.

The plan now is to host a larger event in the autumn on Platforms for Media Production. Further information will follow soon.

Report on Creative, Digital and IT (CDIT) activity in the Bournemouth region: Bournemouth Digital Pier

International Workshop on Weightless Machine Communications, QMUL, London

This one-day workshop was organised by Yue (Frank) Gao as part of an ITaaU secondment from QMUL to the Weightless SIG group. The event provided an opportunity to learn first-hand about the development of the Weightless standard for machine-to-machine (M2M) communication. The event featured a number of keynote speakers from both industry and academia to address application layer, physical layer, security and regulations.

Internet-of-Things (IoT) and machine-to-machine (M2M) communications have attracted significant interests in both academia and industry. Billions of M2M devices are expected to be connected, and a major portion of them are through wireless connections. Research activities are ongoing in academia, and industry. M2M communication standards have been actively developed in standard bodies, particular the Weightless SIG.

The event took place at the Skeel Lecture Theatre, People's Palace, Queen Mary University of London. In addition to the talks a packed exhibition space featured many examples of star-of-the-art technology. A full report will appear on the ITaaU website in due course and a follow up event is planned for later on in the year.

Apps for Healthcare - workshop

This workshop is a joint venture between the RCUK-funded Digital Economy Hub on Social Inclusion through the Digital Economy which is led by Professor Paul Watson at the University of Newcastle. The agenda will draw together elements of healthcare from a social inclusion angle and link these to technological opportunities that IT utilities offer and also explore what new IT utilities are needed in this area.

The event will be held at the Chilworth Hilton, Southampton on the 7th May.

Registration and further details: Apps for Healthcare

Delivering food security from the cloud to the app - workshop

This event builds upon the successful two-day workshop that was held in Northern Ireland last year. Professor Guy Poppy from the University of Southampton will deliver a keynote that will focus on the key challenges facing food safety and standards. This question includes wider food security concerns but will also focus on the safety/standards issue.
Guy Poppy is Director of Multidisciplinary Research and Professor of Ecology at the University of Southampton and also incoming Chief Scientific Adviser for the Food Standards Agency (FSA).

This event will revist the various complex and inter-related elements involved in achieving security in the food chain and will examine the roles needed by the stakeholders to take things forwards. We aim to end the day by identifying some practical follow actions that could deliver short term gains for the wider community.

The event should appeal to researchers from academia, commercial organisations and policy making bodies, representatives from the farming community, supermarkets, food agencies and others comited to improving the security of the food chain.