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INNOVATE UK - Old Billingsgate, London, November 2014 TSB
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The TSB are thrilled to announce that Innovate UK 2014 will be taking place at Old Billingsgate in November 2014. They're hoping to build a programme that will identify opportunities for innovation, export and investment for the UK’s most fortunate companies.
In London over the 5th and 6th of November join business, government and academic champions who will share their insights to help your business grow through innovation. You will hear from the likes of Richard Reed, founder of Innocent Drinks, Angela
Strank, BP’s Chief Scientist, winner of the First Women Award for Science and Technology and Zoe Cunningham , one of Tech City’s top 100.
The event programme is taking shape with key themes in 2014 to include:
* Agri-Food, * Digital Economy, * Energy, * Healthcare, * High Value Manufacturing, * Space and Transport.
INNOVATION - The Ecostar DC50 is a prototype electric city sports car that incorporates the patent Bluebird™ instant energy transfer system - allowing EV recharging of road cars in around 60 seconds. The blue bird legend continues. In 1998 the Dti said there was no future for battery electric cars, from where the inventors allowed their patent to lapse. The team developing the DC50 will be applying for an improvement patent based on the technological advances. The big question is, will the Dti (TSB) maintain their 1998 argument - or will they admit they got it wrong?
There
are six dedicated innovation streams addressing cross-cutting sectors featuring:
SPEAKERS
ABOUT THE TSB
The TSB work to stimulate favored innovation by offering substantial part funding, if you'll share your idea with the big boys and open your books to audit (allow them to see who and how you are trading), which they see as profitable for the UK's corporations - who might then absorb fresh talent - without any IP penalty.
The world faces major challenges – whether climate change, resource use or ageing populations - which are creating global market opportunities for new solutions that governments want as cheaply and quickly as possible. The companies and countries which can adapt most rapidly are likely to gain the most benefit.
Between 1998-99 the predecessor to the TSB, the Dti Smart Awards, chose to ignore battery cars in refusing to part fund the development of an instant recharging system, saying that there was no future for battery electric vehicles. In so doing they gave away the technology lead to Israel (Better Place) and the USA (Tesla) where both companies took cartridge exchange forward, leaving the UK in the technology deep freeze. So you will forgive us for looking at the present system with some skepticism. The backroom boys got it wrong big time.
Will the system ever change? That is unlikely. Indeed, funding opportunities for these genuine pace setters is more likely to come from crowd funding, provided you steer clear of equity crowd funders who are looking to take over projects by offering less for an idea than the controlling (company shares) stake that they will insist on.
CONCEPT ORIGINAL: The very first autonomous vessel concept is coming of age. This large scale (1:10) development model (or its immediate predecessor) was constructed by the inventor and exhibited at Earls Court, Child Beale and other events from 1995. The 'SolarNavigator' was a SWATH type twin hull 50' in length. There was no mention of the (unmanned) technology at that time for legal reasons. The boat was though powered by solar panels as the zero carbon harvesting power source. The Swiss beat the UK to it with PlanetSolar, proving that the concept was sound. The project manager in 1996 said: "It seems that I live in the wrong country to attract backers for such expeditions." Sadly, and despite the fact we were a nation of seafarers with a strong maritime tradition, that appears to be true. Note the absence of wind turbines. This vessel was designed to prove the theory that a solar powered vessel could circumnavigate the globe on nothing but energy harvested from nature as a means to halt climate change. BMS has now negotiated the right to show this model at commercial shows and conferences. Subject to notice, it could thus join the 1:20 scale SWASH model (presently under construction) on 'Future' or 'Innovation' stands from 2015. The SN model measures: 1675mm x 790 x 890mm (66" x 31" x 35" [LxWxH]) A rotating stand is available with lit backboard. The Bluebird/Bluefish autonomous models measure: 2300mm x 825mm x 735mm (90.5" x 32.5" x 29") with the turbines in a mid position. The overall height varies according to turbine usage. Contact BMS and ask Leslie for details.
THE IP RIP OFF
To accelerate economic growth, the TSB use the promise of funding to extract ideas from innovators painlessly, which can then be shared among manufacturers for little cost.
If you have a business with the potential for high growth driven by technology-enabled
innovation, you
might find help here. Be careful though not to give away your ideas, for
once the TSB has seen them, for practical purposes they are in the
melting pot for all the large companies that have been servicing the
UK's military needs in past decades. Nothing really changes. An
associate company was told that Patent
fees are not eligible expenses, which ensures that applicants are not
covered and are unlikely to own the IP they are feeding into the
cauldron - so have little control over buy outs/sell outs.
UK innovators generally have more success in foreign markets, where conservative Britain will never recognize innovation as an acceptable commercial risk, unlike other European states, but more particularly the Middle East, where investors are not shy of a gamble. Let the UK keep their stiff upper lip, finance and investment is now a global business.
ROBOTIC OCEAN CLEANER - The SeaVax seen above as a 'proof of concept' model, could one day be a 44 meter (144 ft) ship that roams the high seas scooping up plastic pollution. The same vessel might be equipped with an oil spill recovery module in dual-purpose. The stand seen here is made especially for Innovate 2015 from recycled materials.
Such projects are unlikely to be fundable by any of the so-called grants on offer from Innovate UK (or Horizon 2020) for all the reasons given above. It is far to visionary and will require significantly more capital than the 60-70% they might kick in if there is a call at the right time - and that is another issue, how can there be a call in good time for something that the European taskmasters could never have envisioned - and will have to educated about before they might consider issuing a call! It is a crazy world.
A more promising alternative is corporations with responsible agendas. Yes, there are quite a number of companies out there who would rather contribute some of their profits to worthy causes, than hand it straight to over to the tax man.
CONTACTS
For all general enquiries about the work of the Technology Strategy Board, telephone: 01793 442700 or email:
support@innovateuk.org
Email support@innovateuk.org or phone 0300 321 4357.
LINKS & REFERENCE
http://www.science.mod.uk/Engagement/the_portal.aspx http://www.science.mod.uk/Engagement/enterprise.aspx https://www.dstl.gov.uk/centrefordefenceenterprise http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_Hydrographic_Office Wiki United_Kingdom_Hydrographic_Office https://www.dstl.gov.uk/insight http://www.innovate2014.co.uk/
INNOVATION TOO FAR - The Bluefish ZCC (Zero Carbon Cruiser) platform promises truly emission free transport on our oceans, based on patent (pending) technology. The ZCC concept is based on a stable SWASH hull. The company is looking for EU collaborative partners for the Horizon 2020 call. The ship may be robotic for autonomous operation at relatively high speed in the 7-10 knot range - 24/7 and 365 days a year. This is only thought to be possible with the revolutionary energy harvesting system. This super efficient vessel pays for itself in diesel fuel saved every ten years.
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This
website is Copyright © 2014 Bluebird Marine Systems Ltd. The
names Bluebird™,
Bluefish™,
Ecostar DC50™,
Miss
Ocean™, SeaVax™ and the blue bird in flight
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