Minister for Digital launches 15 new PETRAS projects

Last week, Thursday the 13^th of July, Matt Hancock MP, Minister of State for Digital, visited UCL to meet with Prof Jeremy Watson CBE, PETRAS hub director, alongside hub researchers, to announce 15 new Internet of Things (IoT) research projects.

Addressing the hub members at the launch Mr Hancock said: “We want to make the UK the best place in the world to start and run a digital business and the safest place to be online.

“Our continued investment in Internet of Things research and innovation is supporting these aims by helping academics, industry and the public sector to explore how we can benefit from connected devices while making surethey remain safe, secure and resilient. These new research projects will keep the UK at the forefront of this technology and investigate some of the most pressing issues we face.”

The newly launched projects were selected in response to a competitive call from the hub and will address research gaps identified by the PETRAS team. All of the projects will follow the PETRAS mission of investigating Privacy, Ethics, Trust Accessibility and Security of IoT.

Prof. Klaus Moessner of Surrey University, discussing his successfully funded project ‘Resolving Conflicts in Public Spaces’ said:  “The IoT is already revolutionising how we interact with connected objects in our personal spaces. This work will look at offering personalised interactions with our surroundings in public spaces. For this type of technology to be accepted we must also identify potential pitfalls and risks and mitigate for them, enabling public trust in this technology”.

In total the projects have received funds in excess of £2million from the hub through the support of the Government-funded IoT UK research and innovation programme, as well as Lloyds Register Foundation, industry and public sector organisations.

Details on each of the 15 projects can be found in the official announcement as well as via the project pages.