Presentation for EGI Community Forum 2014 in Helsinki. Audio added to each slide as I had to leave the conference early due to other commitments. And do join our Community Conference next month in Southampton on the 19-20th June - http://www.slideshare.net/SteveBrewer1/egi-community-building-and-engagement-i-taau-22-may-2014

1. Community building and engagement
The ITaaU method for fostering collaborative multidisciplinary
utilisation of IT in the digital and post-digital economy
Steve Brewer:
IT as a Utility Network+ Research Coordinator
University of Southampton
Helsinki University, Helsinki
22 May 2014

2. Outline
• Overview of the Digital Economy
research theme
• IT as a Utility Network+
• Identifying the community
• Pathways to engagement
• Impact to date
• Lessons learned

3. DE vision: transformational impact of digital
technologies on all aspects of life
• “The Digital Economy: Promise and Peril in the
Age of Networked Intelligence” by Don Tapscott
in 1995
• The Internet has changed how we do business
• The Research Councils UK created major
funding stream - £138 million since 2008
• Aim: to have a wide impact on society, jobs,
businesses, industries and research

4. IT as a Utility
funded under Research Council UK's Digital Economy theme
The Digital Economy vision is of the
transformational impact of digital
technologies on all aspects of life.

5. Introduction: partners & collaborators
• PI and Co-Is:
– Jeremy Frey, PI (University
of Southampton)
– Gerard Parr (University of
Ulster)
– Mark Sandler (QMUL)
– Richard Mortier (University
Nottingham)
– Mike Surridge (University of
Southampton)
• Advisory group:
– ustwo
– IBM
– BT
– Thales
– Microsoft
– BBC Reseaerch
– Cabinet Office
– DSTL
– Zenotech
– Cambridge &
Newcastle Universities
Steve Brewer – Network Coordinator
(University of Southampton)

6. Identifying the communities
The Cloud
food security
traditional
utilities
cloud computing
sensors &
actuators
telecommunications
data-driven
science
electronic lab
notebooks
“Network+
smart spaces/
smart cities”
libraries of
the future
“tangible
Interfaces”
“apps are the
new taps…”
3D printing

7. • Apps for Healthcare – 7 May
• User Experience/User Interface Design Workshop – 8 May
• Delivering Food Security: from the Cloud to the App – 13 May
• Data as a Utility, Analytics as a Service – 9 June
• ITaaU Community Conference, Southampton – 19-20 June
• Cloud computing - Newcastle – 11-12, November
• Platforms for Media Production - Bournemouth - autumn
• DE2014 – London – December 3-5
• Cloud workshop @ UCC2014 – London, December 8-11

8. Call 1
Trusted Tiny Things (Aberdeen) – interactive
bus stops
Uplands Rescue Resilience (Cambridge and
QMUL) – integration of communication systems
in the mountains
Call 2
Sun and Sky (Southampton)
BluPoint (Southampton) small extension given
The Typology Of Loss In Vaccine Supply (UCL)
Communities in the clouds (Nottingham)
CloudMaker (Liverpool John Moores)
– big launch

9. Secondments
Goal: to facilitate knowledge exchange between
researchers in universities, business organisations and
policy making bodies such as government agencies
• Workshops held at the Food Standards agency in London
• Yao (Frank) Gao – QMUK Weightless SIG
– Workshop at QMUL on M2M wireless standard
• Ravensbourne + BT  project
• Ashiq Anjum
– SB – site visit to Bristol
– (project proposal anticipated)
• Dr Deveril – report produced
– further project planning underway

10. Impact to date
• Around 20 workshops (average 20 attendees)
• 7 pilot projects underway or completed
• 4 secondments
• Thriving community of 170 researchers across all
domains and industry plus governement agencies
etc.
• Community conference in Southampton, UK in
June, 2014 – places still available:
– http://www.itutility.ac.uk/ai1ec_event/it-as-autility-network-community-conference/?instance_id=

11. Lessons learned
• Fostering inter-disciplinary collaboration
matters
• Achieving this takes time
• Incentives needed – funds for pilot projects…
– Workshops improve quality of project applications
• Communication: go out and give talks, social
media, flyers, brochures and papers…
• Listen, discuss, and share ideas & opportunities

12. Join the ITaaU Network+
• Web: www.itutility.ac.uk
• Mailing list: http://jiscmail.ac.uk/itutility
• Hashtag #itaaun
• Twitter: SteveITaaU
• Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/ITutilityNetwork
• Email: info@itutility.ac.uk
• LinkedIn group: IT-as-Utility-Network