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Gov't body spends on environmental data

Kablenet.com

Published: 06 Feb 2008 10:15 GMT

A government body is to provide £10m for the development of data-gathering technology for dealing with environmental problems.

The Technology Strategy Board has announced that the money will be available for research and development into technology for issues such as disaster mitigation and response, traffic management, road maintenance and pollution monitoring.

It will provide the money to encourage UK companies to work on data-gathering technologies that could be rapidly configured and deployed by users such as the police, fire and rescue services, local authorities and utility companies.

Chief executive Iain Gray said: "The ability to gather information in complex or difficult environments is vital for organisations such as the emergency services, transport authorities and power companies. Many UK companies have particular strengths in sensing, instrumentation and imaging technologies, and in telecommunications and intelligent systems.

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"Bringing this expertise together would give the UK the capability to offer complete tracking and monitoring solutions, and to exploit the worldwide demand for such technology."

As part of the programme, the board has launched a funding competition named Gathering Data in Complex Environment. It believes it will stimulate UK companies to develop technologies that can be used successfully in challenging environments to gather data that currently cannot be gathered.

The investment will provide partial funding for winning projects that involve businesses working collaboratively with other businesses and/or with research organisations and academic institutions. Applicants must submit outlines of their proposals by 4 April and the final closing date for applications is 8 May. Further information is available on the Technology Strategy Board website.

The Technology Strategy Board is a non-departmental public body that supports the research, development and exploitation of technology for the benefit of UK business, in order to increase economic growth and improve the quality of life. It is sponsored by the Department of Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS).