The Institute of Electronics, Communications and
Information Technology
Creating Wealth through Research and Innovation
Overview
Godfrey Gaston
September 2004
ECIT Operations Director
Background - QUB
• In past 20 years QUB has created over 50 spin-out companies
• UK no 1 university for spin-off company revenues - £90M p.a.
• No 2 after Cambridge in terms of jobs created
• Leading Knowledge Transfer Programme in UK
• Extensive involvement with InvestNI over many years
supporting FDI activity
• Developed the vision that led to the creation of the NI Science
Park
•
Previously a derelict site on H&W Shipyard
•
1500 new jobs created on Science Park since 2004
•
Generating at least £60m pa, ( est. £13m PAYE p.a.) to local economy
•
Significant numbers of other jobs in wider economy
Institute of Electronics Communications and
Information Technology
ECIT Background
• Project began April 1st 2003 – initially £37M over 6 years
–
–
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InvestNI - £8.5M
Department of Education and Learning - £5.5M
QUB £24M commitment over first 5 years
• £18M in new Research funding since
• ECIT building opened in September 2004 flagship for Northern
Ireland Science Park
• Now houses around 160 people
• QUB researchers plus 21 early stage companies
• Also new £30M Centre for Secure Information Technologies
The NISP estate 2007
The Legacy Building
The site for The Concourse
ECIT
The Pump-House
White Star House
The Innovation Centre
International Advisory Board
Mission
“To stimulate major opportunities for
economic growth, by pioneering future
directions and innovation in key areas of
advanced technology through the
integration of complementary research
expertise in a world-leading facility”.
Approach to Innovation
Research
Ideas
Innovation
Money
Research Commercialisation
Professional
Business
Infrastructure New
Globally
Leading
Research
Senior
Industry
Experienced
Engineers
advanced
technology
Products and
Business
Opportunities
Key Attributes - Combining Research with
Economic Development
• Globally leading research - in carefully selected areas that
provide new exciting and potentially disruptive market
opportunities
• Critical mass of innovative industrial and academic partners –
aligning opportunity with key research expertise
–
–
Membership scheme/ international advisory board
Research links with industry and universities world-wide with comparable interests
• Work with industry - share longer term road-maps
• Over-the-Horizon” research in areas with strong market potential
relevant to expertise – NOT “Me too” R&D
• Ambitious, “mission and team orientated” research that
addresses major real-world problems
Key Attributes - Combining Research with
Economic Development
• Essential not to compromise speculative “blue –skies” research
• Senior Engineering Staff with many years in high tech industry
in addition to university research staff in the same environment.
• Bridge the gap between novel ideas and industrial application
• An “Open Innovation” Environment
– Inflows and outflows of knowledge to/from collaborators used to
accelerate the innovation process
• New thinking/New Paradigm
• New support mechanisms
Mission Driven
Grand Challenges
Examples
ISIS: Intelligent Surveillance Sensor network for
Public Transport
WP1. System integration, user
interaction and results exploitation
WP2. Multimodal Sensor
System
WP6. Re-usable implementation
software toolkit
WP3. RF Modelling and counter
measures
Figure 1: ISIS System and Work Packages
WP5. Opportunistic, self-organising,
wireless network development
WP4. Multimodal dialogue
management
Centre for Secure Information
Technologies
Anything that can be connected and would benefit from being
connected will be connected
Institute of Electronics Communications and
Information Technology
You see things and say “Why?”
but I dream things
that never were and say “Why not?”
George Bernard Shaw
Dr Godfrey Gaston
CSIT Director
CSIT Mission
• To be the UK’s National Centre for Innovation
and Knowledge Transfer in Secure Information
technologies – globally connected
• Build on existing UK international industrial
capability (global market currently £50bn p.a.)
• Radically change the way UK university based
research, innovation and industrial
commercialisation are coupled
CSIT Overview
CSIT - MAP
Information Security
Financial Services
Digital Media
People Security
Connected Health
Home Security
Counter Terrorism
e-Businesses
Event Security
Public Records
(e.g. Olympics)
Public
Transport
Systems Integration
Data
Security
Systems
Network
Security
Systems
Wireless
Enabled
Security
Systems
Intelligent
Surveillance
Systems
Enabling Technologies
e.g. Cryptography, Classification, Content Inspection, Video Analysis, RF Scanning etc.
Strategic UK importance
£30M Funding – 5 years
• EPSRC (UK Government)
– £4.7M research programme
– £2.2M Core research staff
• Technology Strategy Board
– £2.5M Core commercialisation support
staff
• Industry
– To £7M cash and in kind
• QUB
– £8.8M
• InvestNI (Economic Development Agency)
– £5.4M targeted
Enterprise/Professional
Education
•
Entrepreneur in Residence Scheme (UK, US, EU) – mentors assigned to
PoC teams etc.
•
Enterprise Forum – business plan presentations to entrepreneurs, business
leaders etc
•
Courses in entrepreneurship and business skills in Engineering
•
Coupling of ECIT/CSIT with MBAs
•
Masters in Entrepreneurship – practical based
•
Masters in Electronic Security
•
QUB Innovation Lectures/Chief Executives Club – International Business
Leaders
University links - Some examples
Grand Challenge Themes
• Convergence of physical and
information security
• As applied to:
– Security in a hyper-connected world
– Secure corridors
– Cloud computing
Open Innovation Process
DIRECTOR
Operations
& Finance
Business Development
Executive x 2
Commercial
Director
Project
Mgr
GC1
IP and
External
Contracts
Project
Mgr
GC2
Grand Challenges: Hyperconnected World & Secure Transport Corridors
WP2
WP4
WP9
BAE
DSS
Academics,
Post-docs,
PhDs:
QUB & Other
Partner
Universities,
eg UCL,
Bristol, RHUL
WP7
NSS
Thales
WP1
WP6
WESS
Airwave
Solutions
WP3
ISS
WP5
Other
Interested
Member
Companies
Metrics
Outcomes
Metrics
Research
outputs
Research income (£)
Publications
Keynotes
University
engagement
Partnership agreements
Joint proposals
Industry
engagement
Full members
Associate members
Contract research (£)
Industry delegates trained
Industry researcher visits
Knowledge
transfer
Licensing deals
Spin outs
Spin ins (new)
IP donations
Patents filed
Financial
performance
Total income (inc. IKC) £
Economic
activity
Jobs created
Year 1
Year 2
Year 3
Year 4
Year 5
Total
Working with CSIT
•
•
•
•
•
•
CSIT Membership
PhD Student sponsorship
Contract research
INI programmes
Knowledge Transfer Partnership
FP7 EU proposal
CSIT Membership
• Full (£30k) and Associate (£5k) levels of membership
• Full membership
– Seat on CSIT Industrial Advisory Board
• Guide and oversee research agenda
• Define project areas
• Set training agenda
– Early access to results
• Early sight of IP with commercialisation potential
– Up-front license to use results for internal use
– Leadership position at CSIT meetings/colloquia
• Network potential
– Access to facilities
– Leverage potential
Summary
• QUB long reputation of innovation and
entrepreneurship
• ECIT playing a leading role in innovation
– Excellence in research and commercialisation
• CSIT to take this to the next level
• Consistent with recent UK government review on
national centres.