1. DTI Opportunities

2. December 2004 Rob Hardeman Page 2

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13. DTI Opportunities December 2004 Rob Hardeman Page 13 The November Call - details Some £80M has been made available in 9 priority areas: 1. Energy technologies: £7M is available 2. Design, simulation & modelling: £17M is available. 3. Micro & nanotechnology: £15M is available. 4. Smart materials & related structures: £7M is available 5. Pervasive computing, networks and sensors: £9M is available 6. Bio-based industrial products & processes: £7M is available. 7. Waste management & minimisation: £10M is available 8. Imaging Technologies: £6M is available 9. Optoelectronics and disruptive electronics: £6M is available Typical project size is £2M - £5M spread over 1-5 years, but smaller and shorter projects are possible. The deadline for submitting a 5-page outline application is 7 February 2005. If successful, project teams will be invited to submit full applications on 7 March with responses required by 3 May 2005

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25. DTI Opportunities December 2004 Rob Hardeman Page 25 Summary “There are some possibilities for info storage related projects in other areas (Pervasive Computing and Design Simulation & Modelling perhaps) but I think they will struggle against other proposals that fit more centrally within the detailed criteria under each area. This is one of the reasons for us wanting to get more overt reference to Information Storage into the call for next April” Ian Williams DTI 10 December 2004

26. DTI Opportunities December 2004 Rob Hardeman Page 26 Next steps It is our intention to propose that Information Storage (hopefully covering everything from fundamental materials work, right through to high level systems work) is specifically included in the next call, currently scheduled for April 2005. In this regard, it would be extremely useful to us if DS-Net could help us reinforce the message that we need to convey to our Technology Strategy Board (TSB) of the importance of information storage technologies and the impact that improvements (achieved through collaborative R&D projects) could have on a wide range of applications and, perhaps most importantly, how UK-based companies and universities could benefit from the additional support from Government.

27. DTI Opportunities December 2004 Rob Hardeman Page 27 Our action.. For understandable reasons the TSB's choice of technological priorities is being strongly driven by the potential impact on the UK economy so it is becoming increasingly important that we have a well developed economic (market driven) case to support any purely technical arguments for inclusion. It is in this area that, hopefully, the industry involvement in DS-Net can be most useful in providing up to date information about the size and importance of existing and future markets for info storage products and systems. The next formal meeting of the TSB is scheduled for early February next year so we are aiming to get as much information as possible together to present to them by mid to late January. I appreciate that this does not give the network a great deal of time but any information you can get to us by then will be gratefully appreciated.