These projects will demonstrate benefits to society and industries that have been severely impacted and/or permanently disrupted by the coronavirus. Three examples are:
- Riverlane will work on a first of its kind environment where quantum computer development can be done remotely, rather than in-lab which are currently inaccessible.
- Figment Productions will work on an alternative to touch screens in public places, where pathogens can live for days.
- Toshiba Europe will work on a fleet of logistic robots capable of autonomously coordinating delivery of vital supplies in ad-hoc arenas, such as the Nightingale hospitals.
Dr Ian Campbell, Executive Chair, Innovate UK, said: “It’s fantastic that over 900 businesses have now received funding through the FAST start Covid-19 funding stream, with the latest projects directly aligned to the ISCF challenges. All awards were fast-tracked so the UK will be better placed to accelerate research, development and innovation into economic prosperity, creating a competitive position in global markets and enabling the UK to be more resilient to future disruption”.
Mike Biddle, Programme Director for the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund , said: “We’re delighted to be able to fund more projects which applied for COVID-19 business continuity funding. This funding from the Industry Strategy Challenge Fund is focused on R&D that will help to tackle the societal and industrial challenges we all face”.