RCUK Digital Economy Theme
Creative Innovation, Manufacturing and Business
Workshop
13 July 2012
Dr John Baird Lead, RCUK Digital Economy Theme
Tel: +44(0)1793 444047
www.epsrc.ac.uk/digitaleconomywww.rcuk.ac.uk/digitaleconomywww.rcuk.ac.uk/digitaleconomy
Summary
Overview of the RCUK Digital Economy theme
What is it?
How it is structured
Press coverage and examples from the DE Theme’s major investments etc
Impact Review
Why did RCUK make the case for Digital Economy Theme?
• 90% of all data created in past two years
• Across G-20 Internet economy = 4.1% GDP, $2.3 trillion in 2010
• Business driven by the internet comprises 8.3% of the British economy £121 billion
• 1 trillion devices connected to the Internet by 2015, 3bn users, internet economy $4.2 trillion in G-20
Opportunities to address real need (societal challenge) & radically change the ways companies interact with customers and run their supply chains.
Huge challenges driven by massive changes in digital technology & internet. Opportunities afforded by increasingly connected world, not just high speed broadband internet access, but also mobile comms - through smart phones, tablets, and other portable devices
www.epsrc.ac.uk/digitaleconomywww.rcuk.ac.uk/digitaleconomywww.rcuk.ac.uk/digitaleconomy
The DE Theme Vision & Approach: “Technology alone is not enough”
“It’s technology married with liberal arts, married with humanities, that yields the results that make our hearts sing” Steve Jobs introducing the iPad2Could have been describing the Digital Economy Theme.
DE Vision: Rapidly realise the transformational impact of digital technologies on aspects of community life, cultural
experiences, future society, and the economy.
www.epsrc.ac.uk/digitaleconomywww.rcuk.ac.uk/digitaleconomywww.rcuk.ac.uk/digitaleconomy
The DE Theme Overview - 1 Partners: EPSRC (£106M), AHRC (£12M) and ESRC (£11M). MRC in previous CSR
113 core projects >£150M since 2008. Plus 174 non core allied projects (33 ESRC, 28 AHRC, 113 EPSRC) = Total £213M. 400 User Partners
People/user focused. Develop technology by understanding how people use it. Asks how would people or organisations exploit/use ubiquitous digital technology? Co-creation is mandatory
www.epsrc.ac.uk/digitaleconomywww.rcuk.ac.uk/digitaleconomywww.rcuk.ac.uk/digitaleconomy
Collaborators (some from CDTs)
www.epsrc.ac.uk/digitaleconomywww.rcuk.ac.uk/digitaleconomywww.rcuk.ac.uk/digitaleconomy
The DE Theme Overview - 2 Cutting edge research is in the cross disciplinary nature of the DE Theme. Brings together diverse areas (ICT, Engineering, Social Sciences, Economics etc) working together to solve a DE relevant Challenge
Since 2007/8 FY, evolved 4 thematic targeted and specific Challenge Areas
DE sub-themes and taxonomy
www.epsrc.ac.uk/digitaleconomywww.rcuk.ac.uk/digitaleconomywww.rcuk.ac.uk/digitaleconomy
Popular Press coverage -1
Tales of Things Electronic Memories (ToTem) from Design in the Digital World Sandpit
www.epsrc.ac.uk/digitaleconomywww.rcuk.ac.uk/digitaleconomy
Popular Press coverage - 2
Digital Sensoria “Online clothes shopping gets the human touch “ in New Scientist; Building on Ambient Kitchen research “The talking kitchen that teaches you French “ - Voice of America, etc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5YuXrDez40&feature=player_embedded
Adaptive ride based on physiological data, New Scientist (Horizon Hub)
www.epsrc.ac.uk/digitaleconomywww.rcuk.ac.uk/digitaleconomywww.rcuk.ac.uk/digitaleconomy
Funding for DE had a steep trajectory – big investment in grants
Skills and Capacity - main investments3 Digital Economy Hubs – include many disciplines £12M each inc £2M partnership funding + gearing
1. Horizon, Nottingham2. Social Inclusion through the Digital Economy, Newcastle and Dundee3. dot.rural, Aberdeen
7 Centres for Doctoral Training (Each £5M >100 students p.a. - geared funding)
Digital Entertainment, Bath & Bournemouth Healthcare Innovation, OxfordHigh Wire (Creating Innovative People for Radical Change), Lancaster Horizon (Ubiquitous Technologies), NottinghamMedia and Arts Technology, QMULFinancial Computing, UCL, LSE & LBSWeb Science, Southampton
www.epsrc.ac.uk/digitaleconomywww.rcuk.ac.uk/digitaleconomywww.rcuk.ac.uk/digitaleconomy
Main investments 2– Digital City Exchange - £5.9m Imperial College .
Focus on using digital technology to boost the capabilities
of integrating transport, health, social and other systems
in our cities, so that they can run as effectively as possible
– Framework for Research & Innovation in MediaCityUK (FIRM, with AHRC) £2.7M. A 7 partner, multidisciplinary consortium providing the mechanism that connects the BBC and the Digital & Creative Industries sector to research and innovation at Salford Quays. Salford lead. Building in MediaCity
www.epsrc.ac.uk/digitaleconomywww.rcuk.ac.uk/digitaleconomywww.rcuk.ac.uk/digitaleconomy
Main investments - 3Research in the Wild
30 projects, £6M
Sandpits in Designing Effective Research Spaces (3 projects £3.2M with AHRC) and Design in the Digital World (8 projects inc Tales of Things Electronic Memories (ToTem) £5.7M)
4 Network+ (£6M total) Opportunities to get Involved
9 TEDDI (£3.9M) & 9 BuildTEDDI (£4M) (joint with Energy Theme)
Creativity Greenhouse - Virtual Ideas Factory
Copyright and New Business Models in the Creative Economy – with AHRC (lead) and ESRC (£4.6M total)
www.epsrc.ac.uk/digitaleconomywww.rcuk.ac.uk/digitaleconomywww.rcuk.ac.uk/digitaleconomy
DE Theme Impact Review - Evidence of success Led by Andrew Herbert + 11 others (7 users and 2 international members)
• DE Theme well positioned for success• Strong multidisciplinary - potential for significant and new forms of impact. Filling gap vacated by strategic industry research; creating new research ecologies between disciplines, institutions, user communities• Demonstrates good science building on evaluating and extending quality basic research. • Engagement with wide spectrum of users including general public and reaching new audience.• Users say DE is a challenge area of increasing scope over coming decade; a long term investment - has the potential to increase UK competitiveness and attract inward investment. DE funded work attracts further investments from TSB, EU, industry.
www.epsrc.ac.uk/digitaleconomywww.rcuk.ac.uk/digitaleconomy
Thank You
STFC£377M
AHRC£99M
BBSRC£358M
ESRC£154M
EPSRC£751M
MRC£554M
NERC£296M
BIS
RCUK
TSB
Treasury
HEFCE Adrian Smith
Research Councils in the Exploitation Path – invest taxpayers’ money to support high quality research and training (mainly in Universities)
Universities
Understand
Government and business
ExploitationInitiation
Research Councils: AHRC, EPSRC, ESRC, MRC etc
TSB, ETI and other partners
Discover
Commercialisation
User requirements/market opportunities
Adapt/Integrate Validate Deploy