The Strategy Board is putting in £7 million, which will be matched by the industrial partners in the projects. Its Director of Innovation Programmes, David Bott said, “The ability to gather information in complex or difficult environments is vital in a wide range of industry and service sectors, such as pollution monitoring, power generation, the aerospace industry and building management.”
This is the latest in a series of major investments by the Board. Since August, it has announced it will invest £80 million in over 120 projects in cell therapy, material technologies for energy, high value manufacturing, low carbon energy technologies, advanced lighting and lasers, data protection and privacy, technologies for assisted living, and healthcare technologies.
One of the data collection projects, GAARDIAN will create a web-enabled data gathering system for use in the vicinity of mission or safety critical activities to certify the integrity, accuracy and reliability of global positioning systems. Partners in the project are Chronos Technology Ltd, BT Plc, the UK Ordnance Survey, Imperial College London, Bath University, National Physical Laboratory, and the General Lighthouse Authorities of the UK and Ireland
A second project will develop a wireless sensor network for use on the sea bed to enable the gathering of data relating to coastal erosion. The partners are WFS Ltd, Swansea Metropolitan University, and Valeport Ltd. A third will develop systems for data gathering in aerospace applications such aero engines, while another project aims to do the same in gas turbines.
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