Transcript Thales Research and Technology and CogNet?

Network of Excellence in Applied Cognitive
Systems - CogNet
I T &S
A e r o s p a c e
D e f e n c e
Thales Research and Technology (UK) Ltd
Contents of Talk
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Thales Research and Technology - Mission
TRT-UK connectivity to academia
Cognitive Systems Experts Group in TRT
Opportunities and Risks of working with TRT
Networks of Excellence for IST 6th Framework
Title & Aim of Network
Technical Objectives
People/partners
Proposal and Consortium Schedule
Thales Research and Technology (UK) Ltd.
TRT UK connectivity to Academia
5 Departments
TRT UK
Edinburgh(EE, CS)
Leeds(EE)
Manchester(CS)
York(CS)
Warwick(Math)
Cambridge(Eng, CS, Ph, Math,Ch)
Imperial(Eng, CS, Ph, Math)
Oxford(Eng, Ph,Ch)
Bristol(Math, Ch)
Bath(Math)
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Thales Research and Technology (UK) Ltd.
Surrey(EE)
Southampton(EE, CS, Ph)
TRT collaboration with Academia & external labs
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UK
FR
NL
University of
Surrey
University of
Bristol
University of
Nottingham
Universtiy of
Cambridge
University of
Reading
Imperial College
London
University of
Leeds
University
College London
Qinetic
CNRS
TNO
INRIA
CEA
ONERA
Ecole
Polytechnique
Ecole Centrale
Ecole Sub
Optique
Ecole Supérieure
d'Electricité
Ecole Nationale
Sup. Télécome
ENS Ulm
ENS Cachan
ALCATEL
Thales Research and Technology (UK) Ltd.
GER
Max Planck
Institute
University of Delft Fraunhoffer
Institute
University of
Ferdinand Braun
Amsterdam
Inst
University of
Siemens
Twente
EADS
Other
EPFL (SWI)
University of
Linkoping (SWE)
University of
Athens
SICS (SWE)
Theme
TRT UK Main Research Themes
Navigation &
Positioning
IP Networks & Security
•Integrated Systems
•Sensor Data Processing
•Large scale
•Mobility (ad hoc)
•Wireless nets
Signal &
Information Processing
•Networked sensors
•Learning & Fusion
Local Area
NCW/NEC
Battlefield
Sensors
INS + GPS
Dismounted
Close Operation
Transport
Public Safety
AUV Missions
E-business
C4ISTAR
Wireless Ambient
Systems
Applications
Security
Location & time dependent services & systems
Integrated Navigation
Network & Security Architecture
Systems Testbed Demonstrator
Testbed Demonstrator
Multi-sensor testbed
Sensor systems testbeds
Combined platform/Navigation/network/sensor testbeds (MSTB)
Small Systems Software Engineering
Defence
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IT&S
Aerospace
Thales Research and Technology (UK) Ltd.
Cognitive Systems Experts Group in TRT
TRT-UK
Adaptive Learning
Systems Programme
Data Fusion
Programme
TRT-NL
DECIS
Collaborative Decision
Making
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Thales Research and Technology (UK) Ltd.
TRT-FR
PLATON
Intelligent Decision
Support Programme
Opportunities and risks of working with Thales (TRT)
 Opportunities
 Focussed Business Cases
 Success record with the 5th/6th Framework
 Payment of the professional proposal writer
 Risks
 May have to limit the industrial partners who can join
the network to non-competitors
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Thales Research and Technology (UK) Ltd.
Networks of Excellence - EC objectives for 6th Framework
 To reinforce or strengthen scientific and technological excellence on a
given research topic
 by integrating the critical mass of expertise needed to provide
European leadership and be a world force
 around a Joint Programme of Activity (JPA)
 To help structuring European research by integrating research capacities
across Europe.
 Durable integratiion
 So as to process knowledge on a particular theme
 To Overcome the fragmentation of European research
 To act as a “Virtual Centre of Excellence”
 To spread excellence beyond the partners
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Thales Research and Technology (UK) Ltd.
Networks of Excellence - EC for 6th Framework
 Must haves
 Critical mass needed to address the key challenges in
the network field
 More than 3 participants
 from more than 3 different countries (Member or
Associated States)
 Duration
 typically 5 years
 but more if needed to create durable integration
 Budget
 several MEuros per year - 100% by European
Commission
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Thales Research and Technology (UK) Ltd.
JPA - Joint Programme of Activity - what it should include
 Integrated activities
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coordinated programme of the partner’s activities
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sharing of research platforms/facilities/software libraries
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joint management of the knowledge portfolio
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staff mobility and exchanges
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relocation of staff, teams and equipment
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reinforced electronic communication systems
 Joint Research Activities
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a programme of joint research to support the network’s goals
 Activities to spread excellence
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training of researchers and other key staff
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dissemination and communication - technology transfer
 All within a unified management structure
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Thales Research and Technology (UK) Ltd.
Example of a Network of Excellence
 Before the Network
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good isolated research teams in Europe
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fragmented effort, redundancy of work, multiplication of effort on
basic research tools (e.g. software libraries)
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huge gap with US, Japan in terms of quality of deliverables and
impact
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links to industry very sparse
 Network
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8-15 of the best teams in Europe
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50-150 researchers per year
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EU fund are small part of total effort
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Helps emerge common research work between ALL team
members
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Fosters exchange of knowledge, co-ordination of activities
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Builds links with US, Japan…
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Common deliverables, co-written papers and common research
tools
Thales Research and Technology (UK) Ltd.
Aims at integrating and structuring
Joint Programme of Activity
The NoE Field
Partner 2
Partner 2
Partner 1
Partner 1
Partner 4
Partner 1
Partner 4
JPA
Partner 3
Fig1:RTD activities in Europe
before the NoE
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Fig2:Coordinated RTD activities
Thales Research and Technology (UK) Ltd.
Partner 2
Partner 4
Fig3: NoE Framework
Cognitive Systems Call
 Information Society Technologies in EC 6th
Framework
 2nd Call Cognitive Systems
“To construct physically instantiated or embodied
systems that can perceive, understand and interact
with their environment, and evolve in order to achieve
human-like performance in activities requiring context
specific knowledge”
 Call opened 17th June 2003
 Call closes 15th October 2003
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Thales Research and Technology (UK) Ltd.
Why do TRT (UK & NL) want to get involved?
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General Reasons
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Be combined lead of a recognised visionary Network
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“Blue skies” technology injection
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Visibility in the European Commission (EC)
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Strong links/visibility with academia
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Strong links with other industrial partners
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Visibility of other industrial commercial applications
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Visibility across Europe
 Specifically CogNET
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In line with the strategy of the Cognitive Systems Experts Group
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Belief that this type of expertise will be essential in future systems
Thales Research and Technology (UK) Ltd.
Thales Research and Technology and CogNet?
 What does TRT want to do within CogNet?
 Lead CogNet proposal
 Lead industrial and managerial side of CogNet
 NOT lead technical side of CogNet
 Why will TRT stick with the network over time?
 Future vision of all future applications and systems
 Many industrial applications for Thales will be born
out of this network
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Thales Research and Technology (UK) Ltd.
Why should research institutes get involved?
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Funding for research in Cognitive Systems
 Status in being part of a recognised visionary Network
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Lead research towards a more commercial end
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Strong links with industrial partners
 Future financed work by industry
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Visibility in the European Commission
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Strong links/visibility with other excellent research institutes
 Visibility of industrial commercial applications of research
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Visibility across Europe
Thales Research and Technology (UK) Ltd.
Why should academic institutions get involved?
 Day to day
 Virtual University
 Source of funding
 Interface with industry
 Expertise
 Resources / secretarial and research support
 Online forums
 Collaborative problem solving
 Online Learning
 Workshops/ tutorial/ lectures
 Knowledge databases
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Thales Research and Technology (UK) Ltd.
Technical Objectives
 A convergent conceptual framework for integrating
diverse researchers whose problems, techniques and
solutions need to be brought together both in order to
understand natural cognitive systems and to design
useful new ones.
 A framework for sharing tools, sharing knowledge
about tools, and for interfacing tools, including forms
of representation, ontologies,programming and other
languages, algorithms, data-libraries, testsets,recommended hardware, target scenarios,
FAQs, How to documents, and other resources.
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Thales Research and Technology (UK) Ltd.
Technical Objectives
 As a special case of the conceptual framework, an agreed
generative framework for describing
- architectures for intelligent systems(high level designs for
complete working systems, combining many kinds of
functionality)
- requirements for intelligent systems(where a set of
requirements for an artificial system is similar to the 'niche'
of an artificial system along with
- analyses of important proposed architectures in terms of
the general framework,
- some recommendations on architectures worth using in
order to meet particular types of requirements. (The list will
change as new research results come in.)
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Thales Research and Technology (UK) Ltd.
Dissemination Objectives
 Production of a publicly accessible (distributed) website with all the partial results of the project as it
progresses.
 Production of educational materials and aids for
newcomers to the research area, including
demonstrations, when available.
 Interdisciplinary workshops and conferences at which
carefully selected invited talks will be combined with
submitted contributions in order to spread both
positive results and information about unsolved
problems to researchers not yet involved in the
activity.
 Other forms of dissemination through journals and
books.
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Thales Research and Technology (UK) Ltd.
Work to date in CogNet
 Assigned a proposal writer
 Flip Pino - Pino and Partners (NL)
 TRT - 30,000 Euros + my time
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Draft Title and Aim of the Network
Draft Technical Objectives
Initial Partnerships
Proposal contents page
Links to wider community
 Consortium meeting in Delft - 20th June 2003
 Consortium meeting in UK - 8th July 2003
 Other IP meetings
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Thales Research and Technology (UK) Ltd.
Win Themes
 Combination of the two previous NOEs
 Critical mass of researchers
 Can we be sure that they are no one else bidding for
an NOE in this Cognitive Systems call?
 EC mentioned most EOI for NOEs only included
universities
 Balance between technology push and application
pull
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Links with many of the EC calls
Proposal is very visionary
Relevance to the IST priorities
Connection with Ambient Intelligence drive of EC
Thales Research and Technology (UK) Ltd.
Who does what?
 Governing Council
 Who?
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TRT is happy with none competitive industrial partners
 Roles
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Consortium building
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Management proposal preparation
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Network management/ co-ordination
 Scientific Council
 Who?
 Roles
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Consortium member identification
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Technical proposal preparation
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Research/technology in network
Thales Research and Technology (UK) Ltd.
Which disciplines and what roles in Networks
 Cognitive Systems
 Computer Science
 Artificial Intelligence
 Psychology
 Sociology
 Anthropology
 Systems Engineering
 Others?
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Thales Research and Technology (UK) Ltd.