Digital Britain Testbed

Yesterday I attended a workshop on Second Generation of Digital Test beds – which we (DCKTN) and TSB jointly had organized in London.

Digital Test Bed is an opportunity for anyone to test the feasibility of their ideas. TSB (Technology Strategy Board) welcomes any idea that has potential to transform the society/community/world for the better. TSB will help you with find resources and offer a collaborative funding of upto 2 million Pounds.

Yesterday we (8 people at 8 tables = around 64 people from across UK) went wild exploring “possibilities”. There were people from local councils, telecom providers, Universities, service providers, consultants, project managers and even a few charities. I was the moderator/note taker for one of the tables. Many wild(ish) ideas came out – to name a few – Dynamic access to public services, telecare on demand, cached community video library etc. We also debated on various commercial models – such as pay-as-you-go, pay-monthly etc. Later on, we took one idea and thought about ways to implement it. We had to assume few things to see our idea through. We noted many challenges. These challenges and assumptions are a rich source for further debate themselves!

Soon, there will be competition inviting techno-commercial proposals to make use of the test bed. A winning proposal is expected to clearly articulate the idea & benefits, explain collaboration and suggest commercial & operational models.

TSB runs several other similar competitions. For example: £12million funding is available for quickening the pace of innovation in wave and tidal technologies, £5million for innovation in manufacturing etc. Visit this link to know more about such competitions: http://www.innovateuk.org/competitions.ashx