Cambridge Wireless

Cambridge Wireless


A Joint DCKTN & Academic and Industry SIG Event

“How do new business ventures and SMEs engage with academia?”
This event delves into the timely debate regarding the possibilities of innovation between the world of academia and industry and given the recent government cutbacks in funding, universities are looking at all areas of collaboration. A FREE and guaranteed unmissable day!

Start date/time :  13th May 2010 09:30
End date/time :   13th May 2010 16.15
Venue :  Institute for Manufacturing, Alan Reece Building, 17 Charles Babbage Road, Cambridge, CB3 0FS


This is a FREE, full-day joint event between Cambridge Wireless and the Digital Communications KTN (DCKTN) and is kindly hosted by the Institute for Manufacturing (IfM) Cambridge.

The Academic SIG is Championed by Dr Ian Wassell of The Wireless Communication Team, Dr Eiman Kanjo of Cambridge Mobile Sensing, David Roberts from Ogma Solutions, Alex Butler from Microsoft Research, Gordon Aspin of Cognovo, Claudio Marinelli of Nokia Corporation.

Much of the innovation in the technology sector takes place within new business ventures and SMEs; however there is a commonly held belief that access to external funding and academic collaboration is difficult for these organisations.
 
Historically, there has been a stronger link between academia and established or large organisations for the obvious reasons of financial security, broader focus and ability to handle the administrative overhead of longer term collaborative projects. However, it could be argued that the current situation, although suitable for established organisations, are less appropriate for smaller ventures where shorter, more focused, administratively light projects using small project teams that are allowed to fail, fast working in an agile manner may be more appropriate.
 
This meeting will discuss the perceived (and real) barriers to entry for new ventures and SMEs to such collaborative endeavors and look at possible ways of breaking these barriers down.
 
To help understand the issues and possible solutions in more detail, we will be joined by representatives from SMEs, the academic community, large research organisations, and a number of government agencies who are involved in collaborative projects in what we hope will be a lively and informative discussion.
 
In order to best serve your interests and concerns, we would welcome any questions or comments that you would like to put to the assembled panel of experts in advance of the meeting.
 
However, here is the current selection of topics to be debated on the day:
  1. What do new ventures and SMEs want to get out of working with academics, and are the current schemes appropriate for such collaborations?
  2. Case histories in how some SMEs have engaged with large organisations and academia in collaborative working.
  3. How SMEs may access funding for wireless/technology projects.
  4. Is IP a major factor when SMEs or new ventures are involved in collaborative projects?
  5. Do new business ventures face additional barriers to entry when looking to engage with academia or externally funded projects?
 
This event evolves as a direct response from the previous Academic & Industry SIG attended by EPSRC, Cambridge Enterprise, Nokia, NMI Research, UCL, University Of Cambridge, CambridgeSens, Microsoft Research and many more!  Booking is highly recommended.

Confirmed Speakers for the day include:
 
REGISTER NOW! to secure your place. To be able to attend this event for free you'll automatically be registered as a DCKTN member. Please note membership of the DCKTN is free.

To join Cambridge Wireless, and attend all future events for free please visit: www.cambridgewireless.co.uk/sign-up 

See also:
Organisation:  Cambridge Wireless