Up to twenty SMEs from Scotland and the North East of England will tackle challenges around ‘People and their Environments’ in IoTUK Boost, a technology competition aimed at bringing new commercial products onto the market.
CENSIS, the Scottish Innovation Centre for sensor and imaging systems, is working with The Data Lab, the University of Edinburgh’s Informatics Ventures and IoTUK, to deliver a series of rapid incubation seminars and workshops aimed at applying the IoT to a set of themed, real-world problems.
As part of IoTUK Boost, the Innovation Centre will identify and work with up to 20 SMEs, which will be given the opportunity to work with a range of organisations such as the Scottish Cities Alliance, to develop new product and service ideas.
Together, they will aim to find technological solutions to some of the world’s biggest challenges in important areas, such as: smart cities, transport, environmental monitoring, energy efficiency and assisted living.
Mark Begbie, Business Development Director at CENSIS, said: “The IoT has huge potential to change the way business and society work; but few people have been able to put that into practice to date. The CENSIS IoTUK Boost initiative aims to help SMEs bring it to the fore and see how the IoT can be used to tackle some of our most pressing issues, around smart cities, mobility and smart transport, the natural environment, environmental monitoring, enabling living spaces and energy efficiency.
“This is an incredible opportunity for an SME to put itself on the map by coming up with a service or product that will capture our imagination and solve some of the most important challenges facing society. Scotland has a strong track record in delivering innovation and some of the world’s most famous inventions; we eagerly anticipate seeing the ideas.”
After a competitive bidding process, CENSIS was selected as one of four regional partners for the IoTUK Boost initiative, along with DataCity – Leeds, Cambridge Wireless Ltd. and Sunderland Software City.
During the competition, 20 companies will be selected to attend an intensive two-day workshop in Glasgow on 17th and 18th February 2016. From these businesses, up to five will be selected by a panel of judges for one-month of incubation support and mentoring to help them in the first stages of bringing a commercial idea to market.
The companies will be supported with a programme of activity and access to expertise from CENSIS, The Data Lab, Informatics Ventures and IoTUK, with a focus on cultivating valuable links with other organisations and developing a robust and fundable idea for a product or service.
The closing date for completed applications will be Wednesday, January 6, 2016 at 12pm and application forms are available at censis.org.uk.