Industry News
ScotGov: Fiona Hyslop, Cabinet Secretary for Culture and External Affairs, is driving forward ’s climate justice agenda with support for a groundbreaking renewable energy programme in Malawi
Press release & links
OS: Budding innovators & entrepreneurs are being asked to contribute ideas that could improve neighbourhoods & communities across Britain, with a £115,000 prize fund available to help develop ideas with the best use of Ordnance Survey products & services.
The GeoVation Challenge, run by mapping agency Ordnance Survey, is looking for great geography, technology & design based ideas, which will deliver solutions to a variety of problems experienced in neighbourhoods & communities across the country.
The challenge runs until 28 March 2012. The best entries will then be invited to further develop their ideas at a GeoVation Camp before going on to pitch head to head for funding at a “Dragons’ Den” style showcase later in the year.
Press release & links
EU News: Experiments have shown that children, for example, can become extremely attached to a robot playmate, but can the robot in turn can develop a bond with a human being? Could we one day expect robots to develop a behaviour that resembles human attachment? That is the question being explored in the ALIZ-E project.
To enable such self-sustaining & constructive interactions – ones that take place between robot and human over days & weeks, rather than just a few minutes, the ALIZ-E project is looking to implement memory systems in robots.
The role of memory is crucial in human social behaviour. While social relationships happen in the 'here & now,' they depend also on the past because our current behaviours are influenced by previous experiences of similar situations. If successful, this research may lead to future applications, including the development of educational companion robots for young users.
Press release & links
FSA: The Food Standards Agency is inviting tenders for a project to develop an electronic recipe database for the FSA to use in dietary consumption & exposure assessments.
The FSA uses a recipe database (in dietary surveys) to help ensure that foods consumed as ingredients of other foods are accounted for in dietary exposure assessments, as far as practicable and where appropriate. Applications should be submitted online using our electronic procurement system by 30 March 2012.
