19 October 2010

Innovation awards receive £150,000 funding boost

GeoVation, Ordnance Survey’s innovation awards programme, is to receive an additional £150,000 in funding for its current challenge, “How can we improve transport in Britain?” to help winning entrants develop their ideas.

The cash injection comes from the Ideas in Transit project funded by the Technology Strategy Board, the Department for Transport and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council. It is in addition to funds put forward by Ordnance Survey for the best use of its free mapping service, OS OpenData.

The funding will be used to support geography based ventures that have the greatest potential to transform transportation in Britain – the theme of the current GeoVation Challenge.

The Ideas in Transit project is a collaboration between the University of the West of England, Loughborough University, ITO World Ltd and Ordnance Survey. It seeks to apply “bottom-up” innovations to the transport challenges faced by individuals and society, such as congestion and the rising cost of fuel. 

Professor Glenn Lyons of the University of the West of England comments:  “The project aims to promote the understanding, awareness and development of user innovations relevant to transport. This is firmly aligned with the focus of this GeoVation Challenge, so we’re delighted to be able to put forward these additional funds. I’m excited about the ideas we might uncover.”

Both the University of the West of England and Loughborough University have expertise and interest in the user perspective regarding transport solutions, from assessing the social context for travel through to user-centred design. Through Ideas in Transit and the GeoVation Challenge these capabilities will also be available for award winners to draw on in the development of their ideas.

Dr Richard Kemp-Harper of the Technology Strategy Board says, “Some of the most interesting and effective ideas in transport are coming from users solving their own problems. We are delighted that through our funding of Ideas in Transit some of these ideas are going to be developed to address transport challenges and potentially achieve commercial success.”

Possible applications include simple, local solutions such as the use of geography to bring together potential lift-share partners based on their location, interests and availability of public transport, thereby helping to reduce congestion and carbon emissions.

Or ideas could be more technologically advanced, such as the Sentience Project, which Ordnance Survey took part in during 2008. Sentience used GPS satellite data and digital map technology to enable a car to automatically accelerate and brake in the most economical way possible using foreknowledge of the road layout.

Dr Chris Parker, one of the GeoVation organisers at Ordnance Survey, adds: “Transport is something that has an obvious geographic foundation and I believe that we’re going to see ideas emerge that could improve our public services and could change how we travel. As such we’re hugely grateful for the financial support that Ideas in Transit are offering because it means we have the opportunity to support even more ideas, with even greater investment.”

GeoVation is Ordnance Survey’s innovation awards programme which supports geography based ideas that have a social, economic or environmental benefit. Now in its second year, the programme is focused on three key areas, food security, transportation and social inclusion. The additional funds announced today are going towards supporting the development of winning entries to the transport challenge.

As well as Ordnance Survey and Ideas in Transit, the challenge is also supported by Business in the Community and the National Business Travel Network (NBTN), the organisation that promotes workplace travel planning as a way for businesses to reduce carbon emissions and benefit staff.

All shortlisted entries will 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 next year. 

To enter the GeoVation Challenge, visit www.geovation.org.uk, and the latest news is also available through Twitter at @GeoVation.

This GeoVation Challenge runs from 28 September–26 November.

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