Digital Catapult set for next phase

The University of Brighton currently plays a lead role in the project which supports the growth of the UK’s digital economy. Brighton’s Digital Catapult Centre links new facilities at the University of Brighton’s School of Computing, Engineering and Mathematics.

The Brighton centre is a space for creative and tech start-ups and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to develop and share digital ideas, working with each other, as well as universities and large corporations.

Brighton’s Digital Catapult Centre has now been given the go-ahead for the next phase of its development which will include a new satellite on the University of Brighton’s Moulsecoomb campus.

The new satellite research and demonstrator laboratory at the university will provide a high-tech physical space for companies and individuals to co-create with researchers working in areas such as media, big data and gaming, and applying these technologies across a variety of sectors including transport, health and retail.

Projects about to launch include innovations in location-based data, Internet of Things, 5G connectivity and Virtual Reality. Joint projects in development between the University of Brighton and the Digital Catapult currently include innovative training networks, wearable technology, living laboratories, smart transport and social informatics.

The Brighton Catapult runs events, workshops and residency programmes for businesses around these themes and their commercial potential, including retail innovation and positive ageing. In early November Professor Miltos Petridis from the University of Brighton gave a presentation on how innovations in Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence and Case-Based Reasoning can be applied to Big Data.

Brighton’s academic lead Karen Cham said: “Our Partnership in The Brighton Digital Catapult Centre presents academics with a unique opportunity to demonstrate their research impact through enterprise partnerships in the Coast to Capital LEP area. We are aiming to make Brighton & Hove a place of international significance in terms of research driven SME innovation, with next generation products and services by placing a profound commitment to human centred design at the heart of internet of things.”

The wider project is being led by Coast to Capital LEP, and delivered by University of Brighton in conjunction with Wired Sussex. American Express and Gatwick Airport are part of the collaboration along with four other universities, and dozens of small and medium-sized businesses in the city and experts in leading edge technology.