Abstract

We will review the digital progress relevant to two significant areas of investment affecting the University. Firstly the broad topic of Future Cities is emerging into a major research theme and secondly the UK Government is investing heavily in our local region to support transportation improvements. The Computer Laboratory has an important contribution to make to the ‘digital layer’ of the global Future Cities research and overseeing the implementation of a digital platform for the local region that will be fit-for-purpose for our research. This informal talk (and discussion) will consider the real-time communication and processing requirements of a Future City extending from the raw real-time low-power long-range sensor data collection requirement to the opportunities for pattern recognition and machine learning such that the city can adapt to predicted issues.

Bio: Ian completed his PhD (AI reasoning) in the Computer Lab in 1998, returned to Investment Banking technology until 2005 when he came back to Cambridge as head of the University Computing Service until 2013. He is currently the University’s Director of Infrastructure Investment representing the University in the regional ‘Smart Programme’ investments and representing the Computer Lab in the University’s Future Cities research theme.