Complex Systems Technology and Innovation Centre (TIC)
The Technology Strategy Board (TSB) is consulting on the formation of a Complex Systems Technology and Innovation Centre (TIC) and seeks input from across industry and academia. The background to this is given below : if you would like to input to the consultation please complete the one page survey they have created here. http://ictktn.co/tinc?key=d95cAHGK&formname=ComplexSystemsTICSurvey
Please note the closing date for input is 22nd October 2011.
The Challenge
Complex systems (e.g. Global financial markets, the NHS, the Internet, etc.), comprising significant software sub-systems, form key parts of our economy, the way we live, do business and run our society and have now become the primary engines of competitive advantage for all modern post-industrial nations.
Addressing hard challenges such as those of Internet-based infrastructure (which so many transactions /information / entertainment services now rely on), complex automated interconnected markets (e.g.finance), a resilient national infrastructure (e.g. NHS) and intelligent connected systems (e.g. defence, transport) is reaching levels of complexity that stretch beyond the core capabilities and resources of many corporations. The inevitable reliance on such complex systems implies not only additional challenges when building and testing them, but also challenges in understanding their behaviour when in operation (e.g.emergent behaviour from the whole system is often non-obvious from even a detailed understanding of the individual system components). Additionally, countries today need to excel in not only technology systems but the realisation and exploitation of complex automated systems and people working together effectively, to be competitive and benefit sustainably from the next wave of information and communications technology (ICT) powered innovation.
Ultimate aim of the centre
The ultimate aim of this potential centre would be increasing UK wealth by
• enabling a more rapid, effective and impactful commercialisation of complex systems;
• adoption of underpinning ICT, systems, systems of systems and services that
• will create and deliver value creation in the UK economy.
Role of the TIC
A potential TIC in this space would become a globally recognized hub of visible critical mass for commercialisation-oriented R&D in the area of ICT, leveraging the UK’s world-class research base in ICT and capable of attracting significant industrial and public sector investment.
The TIC would achieve a step change in the ability to commercialise technologies through:
• Bringing together industry and public sector in the technologies, sciences and understanding that are required to innovate in - and create new – complex opportunities and markets
• Addressing with industry and the end-user sectors (such as finance, health, defence, etc.) hard, large-scale, mission-led research and development programmes, addressing opportunities that could bring significant benefit to the UK.
• Helping industry, both large and SMEs, advance high-potential value ICT enablers, components and systems towards commercialisation
• Providing access to capital-intensive complex systems modelling, experimental and testing infrastructure and skills (built through the centre or brokered through its critical mass)
• Cross-fertilising and re-using common solutions to complex systems across sectors
• Acting as a visible catalyst for other hubs, resources and centres of expertise across the UK and
• Embracing an open innovation ethos that would enable innovative UK-based companies, including
• SMEs, to co-design and advance their technologies and skills with other companies, including customers and end-users
• Acting as a national platform for boosting industry-led involvement into publicly funded research and innovation programmes, in particular from the European Commission, and pre-commercial procurement.
Technology focus
The core technology focus of the potential centre would be in common technology enablers of modelling, building and operating complex systems that form the base of our most crucial infrastructure and services across various sectors of the economy. Based on the consultation so far, the focus areas should include:
• Intelligent and autonomous systems (e.g. those acting on behalf of human users)
• Systems exhibiting non-obvious emergent behaviour
• Systems based on very complex arrangements of components and other subsystems
• Systems handling very large data sets (either extreme volumes of simple data or smaller amounts of complex data)
• Systems which together with human users exhibit highly unpredictable complex behaviours.
• However, the potential CSTIC would be strongly characterised by an approach and distinct competences in:
• linking technologies and systems together in response to hard challenges and new market opportunities in sectors such as finance, health, defence and Internet-powered services that no one single technology can address in isolation
• making extensive use of demonstrators and testbed facilities in realistic scenarios
• translating needs and requirements across sectors so that opportunities for commercialisation can be addressed more rapidly and effectively
The CSTIC would effectively provide a number of viewpoints on the technologies, techniques and solutions required to design, build, test, maintain and operate complex systems in order to bring these into relevant perspectives for the range of key UK sectors of the economy that desperately need them to maintain leadership in existing industries and build new competence in future markets.