Summary

The Technology Strategy Board and other research bodies are to invest up to £7.5m in collaborative research and development that addresses the technical challenges and business opportunities presented by the huge growth in data.

This competition focuses on innovations in the data exploration techniques of analytics, modelling and visualisation to generate new insight and value from large amounts of complex data.

Proposals must be collaborative and business-led and include at least one small or medium-sized enterprise (SME).

The TSB expect projects to range in size from total costs of £100k to £500k, although they may consider projects outside this range, and they should last between six and 24 months

The TSB expect to fund mainly industrial research up to 50% public funding for their project costs (60% for SME's)

Scope

All projects must contain a significant and identifiable element of technology innovation and risk, in other words some uncertainty as to how significant technical limitations or barriers can be overcome.

The scope of the competition includes but is not limited to:

Designing data exploration tools for non-ICT specialists across different sectors

Exploring various types of data across application areas or sectors

Enabling collaborative exploration of data by two or more experts simultaneously

Reducing the cost of high-fidelity visualisation of data

Identifying exceptions, deviations or unusual occurrences in behavioural data

Providing tools that enable intelligent, predictive modelling capabilities, including the integration and analysis of heterogeneous data types

More immersive interaction with data using appropriate interfaces (for example touch, speech, gesture, emotion-sensing

Sectors

Sectors identified as having specific challenges in exploring data include:

Bioscience and bioinformatics

Creative industries

Defence and intelligence

Engineering and manufacturing

Financial services

Healthcare

Oil and gas exploration

Space and physical sciences

Telecommunications and transport networks and services

Project Focus

Projects must focus on one or more of the data exploration techniques of analytics, modelling and visualisation. The approach to these techniques must be innovative. Projects will ideally involve collaborations between organisations with a data challenge and those that can help address the challenge.

Projects should describe how, through exploring data, the project results will enable at least one of the following:

Novel insights to emerge more easily

Unobvious value to be realised more easily

Key decisions to be made more easily

The TSB expect most projects to start from the 'proof of concept' maturity level and to work towards the 'demonstrator' level

General Administration

The competition will follow the normal TSM collaborative research rules.

This competition opens for applicants on 6 January 2014

The deadline for registration is at noon on 26 February 2014.

The deadline for applications is at noon on 5 March 2014

Grant Aid  are already involved with clients in this programme and are keen to find potential partners and assist in applications for new clients  .

See www.grantaid.com and https://www.innovateuk.org/competition-display-page/-/asset_publisher/RqEt2AKmEBhi/content/data-exploration-creating-new-insight-and-value