The University of Southampton is part of the new European Data Portal, launched last week to help realize the potential of Europe’s Open Data.

Addressing the whole Data Value Chain from data publishing to data re-use, the new Portal (launched last week in beta) references 240,000 data sets, and includes 34 European countries. It offers seamless access to public data across Europe, with over 13 content categories, ranging from health and education to transport, science and justice.

The full data collection can be accessed, searched and re-used by all European citizens. The data available covers such wide-ranging topics as crime records in Helsinki, labor mobility in the Netherlands, forestry maps in France, and the impact of digitization in Poland.

The deployment of the European Data Portal is led by Capgemini Consulting in association with the Open Data Institute (ODI), Intrasoft International, Time.lex, Sogeti, the University of Southampton, con terra and Fraunhofer Fokus, on behalf of the European Commission.

During last week’s launch event, two reports published by Capgemini for the European Commission demonstrated the huge potential of open data. For the period 2016-20, the direct market size for Open Data is estimated at €325 billion for Europe. Open Data can create economic value in multiple ways including increased market transactions, job creation from producing services and products based on Open Data, as well as cost savings and efficiency gains. The accumulated cost savings for public administrations making use of Open Data across the EU28+ in 2020 are predicted to equal €1.7 bn.

However, further studies show that the EU28+ have completed just 44 per cent of the journey towards achieving full Open Data Maturity and that there are large discrepancies across countries. One-third of European countries (32 per cent) are leading the way with solid policies, licensing norms, good portal traffic and many local initiatives and events to promote Open Data and its reuse.

Dr Elena Simperl, Associate Professor at the University of Southampton’s Department of Electronics and Computer Science and Director of ODINE, the Open Data Incubator for Europe, commented: “The launch of the European Open Data Portal is a very significant step in ensuring that Europea takes advantage of the huge quantities of open data being produced and used across the Continent. At Southampton we are working together with Capgemini and the rest of the consortium to strengthen the European open data ecosystem by producing white papers, studying the impact of open data, and developing a database of European stakeholders.

“On the technology side, we bring in expertise and open source software that was used to create the first EU-wide dashboard of open data publishing, which monitors more than 200 open data repositories all over Europe.

“In collaboration with the Open Data Incubator for Europe (ODINE), we are offering support to digital innovators interested in exploring the commercial potential of the wealth of data to which the portal provides access.”

For more information and to view the Capgemini reports visit:

• www.europeandataportal.eu/en/content/creating-value-through-open-data • www.europeandataportal.eu/en/content/open-data-maturity-europe

The Software Sustainability Institute – a team committed to cultivating world-class research through software – has received £3.5m funding to continue its valuable support for the UK's research software community. The Institute was founded in 2010, comprising academics and software engineers from Electronics and Computer Science (ECS) at the University of Southampton, and from the Universities of Edinburgh, Manchester and Oxford.

Two new funders, the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), have joined forces with the Institute’s original funder, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) to continue to invest in research that is underpinned by software until at least 2019.

Neil Chue Hong (pictured), the Institute’s Director and Principal Investigator, said: “The Institute is delighted with this development, which shows that the importance of software – and the goals of software sustainability - are reaching an ever-broader audience.”

Professor Phillip Nelson, EPSRC’s Chief Executive, said: "We hope that the Institute will build on its internationally leading work to support researchers from across the disciplines and help them accelerate their research through the use of reliable, reusable and reproducible software."

The Institute was founded in 2010 and over the last five years it has helped thousands of UK researchers, from all disciplines – from nuclear fusion to climate change – benefit from better software. It has:

• built a network of 61 Fellows from across research disciplines;
• championed software and careers for Research Software Engineers;
• worked with over 50 research projects to directly improve their codes;
• written over 80 guides read by over 50,000 people;
• and trained over 1,000 researchers in basic software engineering.

The funding will provide four more staff members to expand the range of activities and build on earlier successes. “The Institute’s remit is broad: we work with researchers from across all domains. Our new funding will allow us to concentrate more effort into areas where we’ve seen incredible interest from the research community,” said Simon Hettrick, Deputy Director.

The Institute is well served by four Co-Investigators: Les Carr from ECS at Southampton, David De Roure at Oxford, Carole Goble at Manchester and Mark Parsons at Edinburgh.

“The enhancement and maturation of existing research software, and the development of the skills needed to produce it, is a priority for the BBSRC”, said Goble; “modern biology is increasingly dependent on the exploitation of advanced computing technologies and approaches.” This is also paramount for the ESRC community, as De Roure observes: “Social science methods are harnessing new forms of data and real-time analytics, underpinned by developing and applying software tools and techniques, as we research new ways of living and working in a digital age.”

The further funding will allow the Institute to build on work with established partners. “Although EPSRC has been integral to the Institute from the start, this doesn’t mean software sustainability is solved for this Research Council", said Parsons. "For example, the steady stream of new PhD students funded through EPSRC's Centres for Doctoral Training bring us new researchers to work with every day." Indeed, a focus on students and the new skills they will need to conduct research in this software-reliant age will be a priority during the Institute’s second phase. As Les Carr says, “Students are the vanguard of new research that depends on novel forms of data, innovative digital methodologies and cutting-edge analytical techniques. The Institute-promoted software competencies is a cornerstone for a range of transformational training programmes that are developing a new generation of world leading research expertise for the UK.”

Neil Chue Hong concludes: “The last five years have seen many significant changes in the way that software is viewed by researchers - some of these changes can be attributed to the Institute’s work. Everyone at the Institute is excited to play an important role in this revolution, and are keen to start on the next challenges. We will continue to support UK researchers and developers and launch new initiatives to help drive UK research, because better software means better research.”

Dr Jonathan Mayo-Maldonado, alumnus of Electronics and Computer Science (ECS), has received this year’s Control and Automation Doctoral Dissertation Prize from the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) for the best UK PhD thesis in the subject.

Jonathan graduated with a PhD in Electrical and Electronic Engineering in 2015. He carried out the research for his thesis – Switched Linear Differential Systems – under the supervision of Dr Paolo Rapisarda of the Vision, Learning, and Control research group.

The prize was presented to Jonathan at the IET’s prestigious Tustin Lecture in London in November. He was told that his thesis was selected “for its depth and breadth of theoretical contributions made, together with the practical application of new concepts in the modelling and analysis of real-life systems, such as power converters.” The committee was impressed with the “quality of publications generated thus far and the number of times these have been cited in other scholarly articles,” and “believed the concepts presented in the thesis will advance and stimulate further research in this emerging area of work.”

Now working as an Associate Professor at Tecnologico de Monterrey in Monterrey, Mexico, Jonathan’s research interests currently include switched systems, behavioural systems theory and power electronics. Reflecting on his PhD studies, Jonathan said: “I was lucky to work with Paolo Rapisarda as supervisor – he interacted closely with me and challenged me constantly to get out of my comfort zone. I also greatly benefited from the research environment that he and his research associates have created.”

He went on to say: “Receiving the IET Doctoral Dissertation Award is a stimulating experience that represents a lifelong reminder that an open mind and hard work are crucial components to achieve the highest standards in a scientific career.”

The top performing students from the University of Southampton Malaysia Campus have each been awarded prestigious Lloyd’s Register Foundation scholarships for 2015-16.

Tim Kent, Technical Director (Marine) from Lloyd’s Register joined Professor Pandeli Temarel, Southampton’s Head of Civil, Maritime and Environmental Engineering , to present scholarships to Electrical and Electronic Engineering students Wen Yee Tey, Aaron Pang and Yiqian Hui and to Mechanical Engineering students Jeremy Fong, Jei See Tai and Yong Hau Kit. The students were honoured following their excellent performance in both academic and personal aspects during the previous academic year. The scholarships cover each scholar’s tuition fees for the coming year.

The Lloyd’s Register Foundation inaugurated the scholarships in 2013 for Master of Engineering (MEng) Electrical and Electronic Engineering (EEE) and Mechanical Engineering students based at Southampton’s Malaysia Campus. For two of the EEE students, Aaron Pang and Yiqian Hui, this is a double success as they were also awarded Lloyd’s Register Foundation scholarships while at the Malaysia campus last year.

All six of this year’s scholars have made the successful transition from the University’s Malaysia Campus in EduCity, Iskandar in southern Johor to Southampton’s Highfield Campus in the UK to complete the final two years of their degree. They are amongst the first group of students in their respective subject areas to make the journey to the UK as part of the University’s Integrated International Engineering Education (IIEE) programme. EEE student Wen YEE Tey is very much enjoying the experience so far, saying: “Lecturers and staff from the ECS department have made me feel very welcome as they give sufficient support and assistance to international students like me. Southampton really is a lovely place where wonderful people from all over the world are gathered.”

Mechanical Engineering student Yong Hau Kit, expressed the sense of achievement felt by all six sholars: “Lloyd’s Register is well-known for continuously delivering world-class engineering solutions over its many years in the industry, so it is a very humbling experience to have been chosen as a scholar by such a reputable company. I see it as one of the best forms of recognition for my year of consistent hard work.”

Professor John McBride, Chief Executive Officer of the University of Southampton Malaysia Campus, said: “We congratulate our Malaysia Campus students in receiving these scholarships for their academic and personal achievements and to our colleagues at the Lloyd’s Register Foundation for their generosity, and for recognising excellence amongst these scholars who have the aptitude and enthusiasm to maximise their potential and create the pathways to pursue their dreams."

Tim Kent said: “It gives us great pleasure to award scholarships to these deserving students who we know will benefit from their experience of studying with the University of Southampton in both Malaysia and the UK. They truly are tomorrow’s leaders and we hope that with our support they will develop the skills required to become successful wherever their careers may lead.”

The University of Southampton has enjoyed a close working relationship with Lloyd’s Register for over 40 years culminating in the formal opening of the new Boldrewood Innovation Campus in Southampton earlier this year where Lloyd’s Register has established its Global Technology Centre alongside the University’s world-class engineering facilities.

A new initiative that brings together researchers from Electronics and Computer Science (ECS) and across the University, millionaire entrepreneurs, successful start-ups and aspiring student innovators was launched on Tuesday evening at Prince Philip House, London.

Future Worlds is an exciting new platform from ECS and the Faculty of Physical Sciences and Engineering, which focuses on the business of invention and entrepreneurship, highlighting the innovative commercial opportunities being developed by researchers and students at the University of Southampton. By providing exclusive access to events, support, and mentors with a global network of contacts, Future Worlds helps turn these opportunities into market-ready solutions for a range of industries.

The launch saw five aspiring entrepreneurs – ranging from an undergraduate student to a professor – pitching their businesses, with investment opportunities as varied as multipurpose, portable medical tests, and an augmented real-time map technology for disaster response.

Also speaking at the event was mobile software engineer, ECS alumnus and Arieso founder, Shirin Dehghan. Arieso was critical to supporting mobile networks at the advent of 3G, and was sold for $85m in 2013. Shirin said: “It's fantastic to see enterprise-minded people at the University of Southampton working together on this model example of a start-up community. This is much needed in the UK and the more universities that follow the example of Future Worlds the better.”

Start-ups already benefitting from Future Worlds include BluPoint and Crossa. BluPoint are in talks with The Gates Foundation having recently received £500,000 from Innovate UK to deploy their local web product across the developing world. Meanwhile Crossa, a roadside assistance app for cyclists, are speaking to major UK bike retailers. Crossa founder, Agata Tomaszewska, said at the event: “Future Worlds has been an invaluable resource when it comes to advice and high-value introductions. The mentoring and training that we received has been absolutely amazing.”

Other delegates included Chris Broad, Director of Apple Europe and Future Worlds mentor and sponsor. He said: “Being a Future Worlds mentor is giving me the opportunity to have some fun working with really smart people on really interesting projects, where I can help move things along.”

Future Worlds has been developed by a team led by serial entrepreneur Dr Reuben Wilcock, Principal Enterprise Fellow at ECS. With a theoretical PhD in Electronic Engineering, Reuben is well aware of the brilliant research taking place at the University and is passionate about ensuring these designs make it into the real world. He said: “It’s hugely inspiring to see what our students and researchers can do and to share their enthusiasm for future technologies. Future Worlds is growing a start-up culture that offers everything our entrepreneurs need to change the world with their ideas.”

Investors, mentors and companies interested in joining the initiative can contact Dr Wilcock at join@futureworlds.com

The new International Consortium of Nanotechnologies (ICoN) – led by the University of Southampton and supported by a multimillion pound grant by Lloyd’s Register Foundation – has announced its first call for funding. Funding of up to £50k each for fifteen PhD studentship places is now on offer to academia and industry.

Launched in September this year, ICoN aims to build capacity and knowledge in the application of nanotechnologies to support safety of life and property – addressing issues outlined in Lloyds Register Foundation’s ‘Foresight Review of Nanotechnology’. The doctoral studentships offered by ICoN will explore these issues, focusing on themes such as miniaturisation of sensor technology, big data, engineered smart materials, energy storage and nanoparticles. ICoN and the doctoral scholars will work together with partners from industry on interdisciplinary projects and access world-leading facilities including the Southampton Nanofabrication Centre. The doctoral researchers will meet every year to present their findings and share ideas and concepts, becoming part of a global doctoral cohort addressing the Foundation’s safety mission.

Applications are invited now from academic supervisors and will be assessed on the basis of excellence, impact and fit to the charitable aims of the Lloyd’s Register Foundation and themes in the Foundation’s Foresight Review of Nanotechnology (2014). The closing date for application is 1200 (GMT) on Monday 3 February 2016. Full details can be found within the funding section of the new ICoN website at www.lrf-icon.com

Dr Themis Prodromakis, from the University’s Nanoelectronics and Nanotechnology Group within Electronics and Computer Science, is leading the programme and looking forward to working with researchers interested in funding for high risk, high reward ideas. He said “The Lloyd’s Register Foundation International COnsortium in Nanotechnologies will assemble the world’s leading universities, research institutions and innovative companies to help them tackle many of today’s most challenging issues by recruiting talented PhD students from every continent.”

Evolution may be more intelligent than we thought, according to a professor from Electronics and Computer Science (ECS) at the University of Southampton.

Professor Richard Watson says new research shows that evolution is able to learn from previous experience, which could provide a better explanation of how evolution by natural selection produces such apparently intelligent designs.

By unifying the theory of evolution (which shows how random variation and selection is sufficient to provide incremental adaptation) with learning theories (which show how incremental adaptation is sufficient for a system to exhibit intelligent behaviour), this research shows that it is possible for evolution to exhibit some of the same intelligent behaviours as learning systems (including neural networks).

In an opinion paper, published in Trends in Ecology and Evolution, Professors Watson and Eörs Szathmáry, from the Parmenides Foundation in Munich, explain how formal analogies can be used to transfer specific models and results between the two theories to solve several important evolutionary puzzles.

Professor Watson of the Agents, Interaction and Complexity research group says: “Darwin’s theory of evolution describes the driving process, but learning theory is not just a different way of describing what Darwin already told us. It expands what we think evolution is capable of. It shows that natural selection is sufficient to produce significant features of intelligent problem-solving.”

"For example," Watson continues, "a key feature of intelligence is an ability to anticipate behaviours that will lead to future benefits. Conventionally, evolution, being dependent on random variation, has been considered ‘blind’ or at least ‘myopic’ – unable to exhibit such anticipation. But showing that evolving systems can learn from past experience means that evolution has the potential to anticipate what is needed to adapt to future environments in the same way that learning systems do.

“When we look at the amazing, apparently intelligent designs that evolution produces, it takes some imagination to understand how random variation and selection produced them. Sure, given suitable variation and suitable selection (and we also need suitable inheritance) then we’re fine. But can natural selection explain the suitability of its own processes? That self-referential notion is troubling to conventional evolutionary theory – but easy in learning theory.

“Learning theory enables us to formalise how evolution changes its own processes over evolutionary time. For example, by evolving the organisation of development that controls variation, the organisation of ecological interactions that control selection or the structure of reproductive relationships that control inheritance – natural selection can change its own ability to evolve.

“If evolution can learn from experience, and thus improve its own ability to evolve over time, this can demystify the awesomeness of the designs that evolution produces. Natural selection can accumulate knowledge that enables it to evolve smarter. That’s exciting because it explains why biological design appears to be so intelligent.”

Minecraft enthusiasts can recreate virtual versions of their home towns by combining publicly-available open data with a new tool developed by a web specialist at the University of Southampton.

Christopher Gutteridge, from the University’s Web and Data Innovation and Development Team, came up with the idea for the Magic Minecraft Map Maker after spending eight months of his own time painstakingly building a model of his home town Ventnor on the popular computer game.

“To create the model I had to painstakingly measure everything from maps and aerial photography and do my best to guess the height of the cliffs and buildings,” said Chris. “I thought, there must be a better way to do this with all the open data that is now available. So I started work on combining OpenStreetMap with LIDAR - 3D data published by the government. I developed a software tool that when you put this data into Minecraft you can automatically create a lifelike model of any place in England within a very short time. The first time I saw what I had produced I was really excited, it looked so accurate.”

Users of Chris’ new software can even turn their towns into netherworlds or winter scenes by using alternative configurations, or come up with their own weird and wonderful creations such as making the sea out of stone and land out of water.

Mark Braggins, of Open Data Aha, said: “Automatically combining 3D LIDAR data with Open StreetMap to recreate Ventnor in Minecraft was ingenious. This is a really impressive demonstration of what can be done with skill, determination, and open data from multiple sources.”

The Magic Minecraft Map Maker software can be downloaded for Mac and Linux from:
https://github.com/cgutteridge/geocraft
https://codeload.github.com/cgutteridge/geocraft/zip/master

By giving the software a region to generate it goes to the LIDAR site to work out the shapes of things, and to OpenStreetMap to work out what is a building, grass, roads or water.

Chris, who graduated in Computer Science from the University of Southampton, believes the new software that he developed in his spare time, could be very useful as well as entertaining.

He said: “This is an excellent demonstrator of the open data that the government and community are making available, and the power of combining them.

“It could be used by schools to base projects on such as rebuilding a ruin like Netley Abbey, or improving their town by designing and building new things in their local area and seeing how buildings such as a new block of flats can change things.”

To find out more about the Magic Minecraft Map Maker visit:
www.facebook.com/magic.minecraft.map.maker/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUXi8SK39_Q

Demonstrations are available on servers at:
Southampton server: 159.8.141.198:56086
London Server: 159.8.141.199:52664

The University of Southampton is to work closely with Nanyang Technological University in Singapore to develop cybersecurity solutions for smart traffic control systems.

The project is one of six new joint research collaborations announced between UK and Singapore-based researchers to develop new solutions that will enhance the resilience of systems and infrastructure to cyber attacks. The UK’s Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and Singapore’s National Research Foundation will jointly fund the projects worth £2.4 million ($5.1 million) over the next three years.

Led by Nick Jennings, the University of Southampton’s Regius Professor of Computer Science and Head of Electronics and Computer Science (ECS), the project will study human-agent collectives (HAC), in which humans work in partnership with highly interconnected computational components. For example, sensors in mobile devices that collect and analyse information to give the ‘bigger picture’ of an emergency situation as it develops.

The study will also use game theory to discover and analyse major attack scenarios and focus on resource-constrained online machine learning to develop real-time defence mechanisms.

“With the increasing popularity of Internet of Things (IoT) technologies, there is a higher demand to make these systems more secure, in order to gain trust and acceptance from the wider communities,” said project co-ordinator Dr Long Tran-Thanh, Lecturer in the Agents, Interaction and Complexity research group within ECS. “As such, the success of our project would be a proof of concept that our cyber security solution could be efficiently applied to IoT systems. This would bring us one step closer to the realisation of smart societies, where secure IoT plays an essential role.

“As the traffic network is one of the key national strategic infrastructures, making it secure from possible attacks without creating major disturbances within its normal everyday usage would be crucial,” Dr Tran-Thanh continued. “Given this, the success of our project would provide the first efficient solution to this problem, from which the nation would significantly benefit.

“We are quite confident that this project will be successful and will provide a strong impact to both the cyber security and the IoT communities, respectively,” Dr Tran-Thanh continued. “In particular, our partners, Assistant Professors Bo An and Mo Li from the School of Computer Engineering at Nanyang Technological University (NTU), will add their excellent knowledge in security game theory and IoT hardware systems, respectively, in order to complement our expertise in machine learning and HAC systems.”

Assistant Professor Bo An, an expert in artificial intelligence and game theory at NTU, said: “Traffic systems are important infrastructures that have to be protected at the highest security levels, since their high automation and computerisation makes them prime targets for cyber-attacks. A successful cyber-attack by criminals into the traffic system would give them the ability to create chaos, causing heavy traffic on roads, and even to block law enforcement vehicles and to create escape routes.

“Our novel idea in this research project, is to combine game theory and machine learning so that we can detect suspicious behaviour and activity in advance, and to develop mechanisms that could mitigate cyber-attacks on smart traffic systems. In short – we aim to have smart traffic systems in future that will know when and how it is being hacked, adapt to these attacks, and obstruct the hackers every step of the way.”

Southampton is leading the national agenda to protect against cyber threats as one of 13 Academic Centres of Excellence in Cyber Security Research in the UK. The University was awarded ACE-CSR status in November 2012 by GCHQ with a remit to extend knowledge through original research and provide high-quality graduates in the field of cyber security. In November, the University launched a new Cyber Security Academy to help make government, businesses and consumers more resilient to cyber-attack.

The University of Southampton is to share in £500,000 of funding to provide students with the skills to help protect the UK against cyber-attacks.

Southampton is one of eight institutions to receive funding from the Higher Education Academy (HEA), working with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), to develop projects that will help improve the skills of graduates, address the shortage of cyber security skills and future proof the country’s IT sector making it more resilient to cyber-attacks.

Led from Electronics and Computer Science (ECS), the Southampton project ‘Enhancing Campus Cyber Security through Constructivist Student Learning’ will receive over £53,000. It will investigate how universities can benefit from collaboration between external industrial cyber security experts and their own multi-disciplinary staff and students.

“We will analyse how industrial cyber security best practices can be translated to more open campus environments, where, for example, lecturers commonly use their own preferred devices and services, to produce learning materials and improved institutional practices,” said project leader Dr Federica Paci, Lecturer in Cyber Security within ECS at the University of Southampton.

“Another perspective will explore how the student learning experience and university’s security posture can be enhanced through activities including supervised penetration tests of university systems and establishing an appropriate responsible disclosure policy,” she added.

The project, which was launched last week, will be based within the University’s recently-established Cyber Security Academy (CSA). The CSA is a partnership between the University and world-leading industry and Government partners to provide a focal point for cyber security research, education and outreach.

Professor Simon Cox, the University’s Chief Information Officer, said: “We are very excited to be exploring how the student learning experience and a university’s security posture can be enhanced through activities.”

Professor Vladimiro Sassone, director of the CSA, remarked: “Engaging with students to determine methods to harness their interest and desire to learn practical cyber security, through controlled penetration and security posture testing, and the establishment of appropriate responsible disclosure policies is one of the distinguishing features of the Academy.”

Professor Stephanie Marshall, Chief Executive of the HEA, said: “The Higher Education Academy is pleased to be able to offer support to these higher education providers to develop innovative projects that will improve cyber security teaching and learning. If the UK is to be equipped to respond to the increasing threat of cyber-attacks, we must ensure that the next generation of cyber security specialists receive the best teaching and learning to furnish them with the skills needed. Each of the projects receiving the Development Grants has the potential to do this.”

Digital Economy Minister Ed Vaizey said: “Protecting the UK in cyber space is a top priority, which is why the Government recently announced £1.9 billion funding for cyber security and an ambitious new skills programme. The grants we're announcing today will enable Universities to develop high quality, innovative teaching and learning, and ensure we have skilled people to address future cyber security challenges.”

The work is funded from the Government’s five-year, £860m National Cyber Security Programme to protect and promote the UK in cyber space.