Launch Event | 16 July 2018

On 16 July 2018, we held our official launch event and welcomed 150 researchers from Imperial and beyond, for an evening of talks and networking.

Andy Stanford-Clark, the CTO for IBM UK and Ireland, launched the event with his keynote talk on how "Innovation Begins at Home". An early pioneer of IoT technology, he led us through some of the projects he has completed in his home, including outdoor Christmas lights that can be activated by SMS messaging. He then went on to describe how his team have used smart sensors to efficiently warm animal houses at Marwell Zoo.

We then heard from some of the academics from the Centre for Smart Connected Futures, outlining the main challenges for research and how their own research can contribute to address these challenges.

Finally, Theo Blackwell, the first Chief Digital Officer for London, laid down the challenges that London faces to becoming a Smart City, and the importance of universities working together with tech communities to deliver this.