Geospatial Funding and Engagement Opportunities - October 2020

KTN connects SMEs to open funding and engagement opportunities. These can be challenging to find so here is a summary of the opportunities in the sector for the months to come.

To stay abreast of the opportunities, I strongly recommend you sign up to all relevant newsletters at https://ktn-uk.co.uk/newsletter. Vision KTN Geospatial Insights for more information on our activities and how we can help your business grow and achieve impact.

Thank Gemma Wilson, Regional Growth Manager at SA Catapult, for putting this resource together. 

Sector Update

#ThePowerOfPlace event series has now concluded with a fantastic cross-sector engagement. 1668 people registered from 1000+ companies watched the sessions live to find out what #LocationIntelligence can do for their companies and sectors. If you have missed the events, you can watch the recordings here https://tinyurl.com/yxs69ngm.

Space2Waves, a new European Funded project, has launched a Call of Interest to support SMEs with earth observation products and services sector to grow their business internationally in the blue growth arena. The Space2Waves Internationalisation Programme will assist up to 30 European SMEs to develop business opportunities for earth observation technologies, products and services in Australia, Canada, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates. The support package will include workshops focusing on space and blue growth markets and opportunities as well as individual coaching sessions and the opportunity to take part in 3-5 day matchmaking missions in the identified countries with up to €1250 in travel support (or equivalent, subject to travel restrictions in force). SMEs with innovative earth observation technologies that can be used in the marine and maritime sectors in areas such as fisheries, aquaculture, EEZ surveillance, climate change, port infrastructure and maritime transport are advised to sign up quickly to the programme which is open until 5 November 2020.

Westcott BIC Open Call for Application Closes 20 November. Are you a start-up working in rocket propulsion, 5G communications or autonomous systems such as drones? Apply now to join the Westcott BIC Incubation Programme and benefit from hands-on technical and business support tailored to your needs along with a host of other benefits.

Kru Desai Commissioner for the #GeospatialCommission is delighted to announce the launch of the new #Scottish #Geospatial Network Integrator at the techUK event last week. If you are a company with an interest in Scotland and the geospatial sector read on here https://bit.ly/2TtelXX.

@TechUK and the @Geospatial Commission have kicked off the Geospatial Data Campaign to Map the UK’s Geospatial Future. Through a dedicated programme of events, roundtables, insights and podcasts this campaign will explore the opportunities and potential benefits from greater use of geospatial data across different industries and sectors, potential barriers that may stand in our way and consider how to address these as well as drive forward a world-leading geospatial market in the UK. Find out more here.

The SA CAtapult has some exciting opportunities to work with their regional network. Very short deadline 2 November and contracts until March 2021 but really important roles to support our regional Centres. 1 x Business Technology Consultant - Sat Comms, 1 x Business Technology Consultant EO, 2 x Business Development Consultants. Please contact Gemma if you have any queries.

Events for November and beyond

ESA Online Workshop: Space for Intelligent Health 3 November 9:00am – 4:00pm CET. How Space can contribute to disruption and innovation in the Health ecosystem digital workshop.

Join the virtual Smarter Data, Smarter World conference organised by 1Spatial. November 9-12, four days of talks to Unlock the value of location data. Register here https://sdsw20.digileaders.com/

AGI GeoCom 2020. #GeoCom2020; Sustainable (R)evolution is the flagship event of the Association for Geographic Information (AGI). Organised by geospatial professionals for geospatial professionals, it connects the UK GeoCommunity with specialist senior-level speakers to help shape the latest thinking on a host of topics relevant to the UK geospatial sector. Find out more about the role of Geospatial in providing a new vision of sustainability at a time of rapid (r)evolution is the focus of GeoCom20, which takes place online from 17 to 19 November and is completely free to attend. Register here.

Artificial Intelligence in Geospatial – The State of the Science. 26 November 1000-1600 GMT. A KTN and ConsultingWhere event. Advancements in the application of Artificial Intelligence to Geospatial data are starting to show the promising signs of being able to unlock its true potential. And the promise of what GeoAI can deliver sustains the interest of commercial and governmental organisations to push the innovation envelope. But what does GeoAI really mean? How does it work? And what are the challenges? During this mini-conference, we aim to dig deeper into the application of AI for the Geospatial sector, and how it creates new and enhanced use cases, demonstrating the power of Where. Register here https://bit.ly/KTNGeoAI.

Shaping the Future of Science #AGU20 is scheduled from 1-17 December to accommodate over a thousand hours of virtual content to minimize conflicts while maximizing global engagement. Scientific program content will be available on-demand, with pre-recorded oral presentations and virtual posters available for attendees to view and peruse outside of the scheduled live Q&A sessions during the meeting.

Space for All - Harnessing the power of Geospatial Data in Immersive Technology and Gaming Development’ virtual event. The webinar will take place on Thursday 10 December 10am-12pm, and will explore to what extent geospatial and immersive technologies can overlap and bring added value.This event represents the first of its kind in bringing together those key sectors for the exploration of collaboration opportunities in greater detail. In this context, both Enterprise M3 LEP, the @KTN, and @ImmerseUK identified an opportunity to bring together the collective geospatial, gaming and immersive UK communities, and showcase some of their latest developments.

Data.Space 2021 16-17 Feb 2021. DATA.SPACE provides a platform for thought-leaders across start-ups, investors, decision-making, policy, knowledge, and data makers to network and discover the opportunities that space is enabling on our Earth.

Innovation Exchange Open Competitions

Innovation Exchange (KTN's Open Innovation programme) challenges with a geospatial element. You will need to register on the website to see the full details.

?     Immutable audit trail of a component or device

?     Digitally track and manage large components at quayside storage areas

?     Component recognition and tracking

• Contamination Mapping and Visualisation System
• Delivering Peer-to-peer energy trading across non domestic Local Energy Systems

Check funding from KTN - IUK, UKRI, H2020 and more

Horizon 2020 UFO Programme. Join KTN and a consortium of EU partners to the first webinar of the UFO project on November 19 at 1000 CET. Register here https://lnkd.in/daC7Wtv. The UFO Project is dedicated to supporting European SMEs in developing innovative products and services by integrating new technological solutions and know-how provided by the combination of innovative Small Flying Objects (SFOs: #drones, #highaltitudeplatforms systems, #smallsatellites), embedded nano and digital technologies, Key Enabling Technologies (#KETs), data analysis and exploitation solutions. €3m of funding are available for SMEs. We are focussing on the following key market sectors: #BlueGrowth, #Climate, #Creative / #Digital and #Gaming, #Environment, #Finance & #Insurance and #Mobility. Find out more below or go to our website: www.ufoproject.eu. #funding #innovation #SME.

Horizon 2020: SME Instrument - Phase 1 (H2020-EIC-SMEINST-2018-2020). Closes 4 November 2020. Are you an innovative, high-flying small or medium-sized business with European and global ambitions?

Horizon 2020: EIC Horizon Prize for 'Innovative Batteries for eVehicles (H2020-Batteries-EICPrize-2018). Closes 17 December. Businesses can apply for a share of €10m to develop a safe and sustainable battery for electric-vehicles through the development of new materials.

UKRI open call for research and innovation ideas to address Covid-19. Closes 1 April 2021. Proposals invited for short term projects addressing and mitigating the health, social, economic and environmental impacts of the Covid-19 outbreak.

Covid-19 Rapid Response Rolling Call. Closes 1 April 2021. A rolling call for proposals for rapid research into Covid-19: proposals reviewed within 4 weeks. For UK-led academic, SME and wider industry research.

Prize for 'European low-cost space launch'. Closes 1 June 2021. €10 million prize for projects developing a European solution for launching light satellites into Low-Earth Orbit.

And more. Check out https://ktn-uk.org/opportunities/.

Funding by InnovateUK and UK Research and Innovation

UKRI – Get funding for ideas that address COVID- 19. Proposals are invited for short-term projects addressing and mitigating the health, social, economic, cultural and environmental impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Innovate UK Smart Grants. Closes 25 November at 11.00. Opportunity for UK registered organisations to apply for a share of up to ￡25 million from Innovate UK to deliver disruptive R&D innovations that can significantly impact the UK economy.

Funding by ESA Space Solutions

Marine Energy Closes 17 November. Ocean energy has the potential to play a significant role in the future energy system, whilst contributing to the reduction of carbon emissions, mitigating climate change and stimulating economic growth. This call, in collaboration with the Dutch Marine Energy Centre (DMEC), is looking for companies with ideas to combine space-based applications in support of marine energy solutions.

Space Applications to Advance Innovation on Circular Cities. Close 4 December. Tenderers are invited to propose a feasibility study addressing one of the following domains: Public transport transition towards zero carbon emissions and service optimization and/or Dynamic mapping system of infrastructures

Space and 5G Convergence. Transport and Logistics. Closes 15 December. Watch the Webinar for more information on how to apply.

Prevent and Protect Food and Beverage Fraud. Opens 3 November, Closes 19 January 2021. The prevention and detection of food fraud is not only an important ethical matter, it is an issue which impacts the global economy as well as the health of the citizens. Register for the Webinar 3 November at 11.00 CET

Space4Rail. Closes 31 Dec 2022. ESA #spacesolutions #Space4Rail Open Call aims to support the exploitation of space-based assets (satellite navigation, satellite communications and/or Earth observation) in innovative and sustainable applications/services.

Other Business Funding Opportunities

Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) Open call. The Open Call is looking for innovative ideas to improve the defence and security of the UK. Your idea could be a concept, product or service, at various levels of maturity.

Frontiers Coronavirus Funding Monitor. A curated list of open funding calls and other support for researchers, non-profit organisations and commercial organisations, specifically for COVID-19 and coronavirus-related research. This website is updated daily.

Invest Northern Ireland’s ￡5K innovation Voucher’s for business’ can now be used with the Satellite Applications Catapult as a recognised Knowledge Provider. Typical Support includes helping to create or improve products, services or processes, access to specialist expertise in new materials, tapping into research and scientific expertise.