University creates £12m research hub to champion rural tech

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More than £12 million in funding will be pumped into the University of Aberdeen over the next five years as it undertakes a massive research effort to look at how technology can play a key role in the lives of rural businesses and consumers.

The money has come from the Research Councils UK's (RCUK) Digital Economy Programme, which is led by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). At £12.4 million, the university’s grant will create 60 new jobs and studentships.

The delivery of critical services such as healthcare and transport in rural areas will be key focus areas for the university’s new Rural Digital Economy Research Hub. Nature conservation and tourism will also be on the agenda as the university tries to encourage the use of new technology in these areas.

"Untapped economic potential in rural areas is of crucial significance, and has been estimated at £347 billion in England alone. Digital technology has a key role to play in realising this potential,” said Professor John Farrington of the University of Aberdeen's School of Geosciences, who will be director of the new research hub.

“The Rural Digital Economy Research Hub based at the University of Aberdeen will develop advances in technology which have the potential to transform how people in rural communities live and work in the future."

Dr Peter Edwards, currently working in the university’s School of Natural and Computing Sciences, will work alongside Professor Farrington as the hub’s technical director.

"Our activities will build on our existing research excellence at the University in areas such as intelligent systems, novel user-interfaces and satellite and wireless broadband,” he said.

“The recent Digital Britain interim report highlighted the importance of content and services in making digital technologies central to people's lives. We welcome this opportunity to put rural communities and other stakeholders at the very heart of our research agenda, and to develop new software and services with them in mind.”

Researchers at Aberdeen's Rural Digital Economy Research Hub will also work closely with two other such centres in Newcastle and Nottingham.

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