Image by Lupin CC-BY-SA-3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Since the announcements of the successful projects funded in the autumn round of the IT Innovation Challenges much work has been going on to get the projects set up and started. It is not only a question of getting the account set up and money transferred but the project managers may also have to deal with recruitment of staff, re-arranging of non-project duties, and much more. Despite their busy schedules, about 20 of the project staff involved in new projects took the time to gather for the kick-off meeting in late April.

In addition to some brief general information from the Innovation team, participants got to meet Roy Azoulay who introduced Isis Innovation and what they can do to support the projects, now or in the future. John Miles, who is running a project funded in a previous round, talked about his project and his experiences of being part of the IT Innovation scheme.

The main purpose of the meeting was to offer the projects a chance to meet and learn about what others are doing. Each team gave a brief overview of their project, and it was interesting to see how much cross-over there was. New links were established, and suggestions and contacts were shared. At the end of the meeting, it was suggested that these kind of sessions are set up more regularly, inviting all IT Innovation projects to come along and share ideas and experiences. We are currently looking for a suitable date and will send out an invitation shortly.