Scotland’s Innovation Centre for Sensor and Imaging Systems, CENSIS, has launched a national campaign inviting companies to join a demonstrator project for harnessing the potential of the Internet of Things.
The potential applications for the six month project range from automation in factories and energy management, to predictive maintenance and product customisation. The project will give the selected business access to the CENSIS team, its project management skills and engineers to the value of £85,000, which can be employed to develop or improve business processes.
Ian Reid, chief executive of CENSIS, said that the project could help a business increase efficiency and make it more competitive.
Reid said: ‘The Internet of Things has the ability to transform the way businesses operate, especially those in the manufacturing and logistics sectors. It is a big discussion point at the moment and could prove to have a profound positive impact on these industries.
‘This project will help the selected company harness this potential and make the ideas they have for their business a reality. That could mean efficiencies in processes, implementing more automation in their facilities, or using technology to better manage their use of energy.’
Since its establishment in January 2014, CENSIS has helped bring a number of companies and universities together on very different projects. This has included Optos and Glasgow University, both of which are working together on a project which aims to increase the scope and image quality of scanning laser ophthalmoscope lenses.
Scotland’s sensor sector alone generates estimated revenues of £2.6 billion with 170 companies employing about 16,000 people.
Reid added that the last 12 months had seen solid progress for the innovation centre as it looks to bring more businesses together with the expertise incumbent in Scotland’s universities.
Reid commented: ‘We have researchers and facilities of international renown in Scotland, with particular strengths in electronics and imaging systems. There’s a great deal of interesting research, but we need to give it more of a commercial imperative and apply a business focus.
‘Bringing academia and industry together is the best way of achieving that and over the past year we’ve managed to facilitate a number of projects between the two. We’ve worked with businesses as diverse as Findlay Irvine and Macphie of Glenbervie, built valuable links in China and Japan, and brought expertise across Scotland together through events like our forensics workshop with the University of Dundee.
‘As a result, we’ve seen a number of successful new technological developments which have significant commercial potential. We’re keen to bring on more projects and would encourage businesses looking for access to new markets or to create new products in 2015 to think about how access to academic expertise might help them.’
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