Industry News
BS: Buying Solutions has launched its new online aggregation portal designed to provide all interested public sector organisations with the chance to register their interest in aggregation opportunities. If you have a generic requirement, why don’t you consider pooling demand with other organisations to gain economies of scale, shared resources and operational benefits?
OS: GeoVation, the geography innovation awards programme now in its second year, has announced a prize fund of £25,000 to support the development of winning ideas. This year the Ordnance Survey-backed initiative is asking entrepreneurs, developers and community groups to focus their efforts on using geography to address 3 distinct challenges.
The first is around the question; ‘How can Britain feed itself?’, where geography could play a vital role in helping connect people to farming and locally produced & sustainable sources of food. Among the ideas already submitted are the building of urban rooftop allotments and the creation of the ‘Real’ Farmville, where people could share and buy real produce.
Sam Henderson of Agrarian Renaissance, an organisation seeking to reconnect local farmers to their communities, supports the challenge. Entrants have until 3 September 2010 to submit their ideas, before a shortlist will be invited to pitch at a Dragons’ Den style event in the New Year for a slice of the prize fund.
The winner’s of last year’s awards, who scooped a £21,000 prize fund between them, have all now developed real applications, websites or products thanks to GeoVation. The giant 20 square metre MaxiMap is being used in schools across the country and the heritage plaque finder website (http://www.plaqueguide.com/) is now live. The third winner, Mission:Explore London, has an iPhone app ready to launch at the end of July.
ScotGov: A new green scheme that recycles food waste has been launched. The Commercial Food Waste Collection Service, run by Keenan Recycling, creates BSI accredited compost from items such as leftover food, coffee grounds, cups & paper towels collected from businesses & restaurants in the North East.
The Government plans to introduce legislation requiring mandatory food waste collections by 2013, leading to savings for LAs. This will increase the quality of other waste that can be separated & recycled for value.
WAG: Companies developing the latest technologies to improve healthcare in Wales – ranging from remote monitoring of patients, to accessing medical records from a mobile – are set to benefit from a new innovation centre in Swansea.
The centre, which has received £446,002 funding from the Welsh Assembly Government under the EU backed Academic Expertise for Business (A4B) programme, is specialising in E-health – the umbrella term for healthcare practice supported by electronic processes & communication.
Press release ~ Academic Expertise for Business ~ Swansea’s Health Informatics Research Laboratories
BIS: Six successful bidders will share £660,000 match funding from the Department of Business for gas refuelling or electric vehicle charging infrastructure projects in the latest round of support from the Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Grant Programme.
The projects will install infrastructure to support public & private sector fleets in trialling a wide range of natural gas, bio-gas and electric vehicles including buses, HGVs, and refuse collection vehicles.
The projects will install infrastructure to support public & private sector fleets in trialling a wide range of natural gas, bio-gas and electric vehicles including buses, HGVs, and refuse collection vehicles.
WAG: A unique project that will develop innovative technology to test clean electricity generation from the tides off the West Wales coast is to receive a £1.4m EU funding boost. The money will be spent on a feasibility study to develop DeltaStream technology and assess the suitability of a site in West Wales for tidal stream testing.
As part of the package Tidal Energy Limited, the Company behind the technology, will be able to carry out site surveys, environmental assessments & design work at the proposed demonstration site at Ramsey Sound, Pembrokeshire. It is expected that the funding will lead to the deployment of a full-scale prototype device in 2011.
As part of the package Tidal Energy Limited, the Company behind the technology, will be able to carry out site surveys, environmental assessments & design work at the proposed demonstration site at Ramsey Sound, Pembrokeshire. It is expected that the funding will lead to the deployment of a full-scale prototype device in 2011.
WAG: True Taste Award-winning Caffi Florence has launched a scheme on Facebook to allow food producers with a glut of fresh produce to find a buyer. The scheme, believed to be the first of its kind, is at ‘localfoodnortheastwales’ on Facebook and allows growers & buyers to post who has an abundance of fresh local produce and who is ready to buy it.
BIS: Business & Enterprise Minister, Mark Prisk, has announced a £1.5m investment in the development of wave energy technology during a visit to the South West RDA’s Wave Hub project at Hayle. He said the additional £1.5m grant from the RDA would allow wave energy company - Ocean Power Technologies Ltd (OPT) - to develop a larger version of its ‘Powerbuoy’ wave energy device.
.gif)
