Research and projects realized in 2017 by the Research Departent of Link Campus University
- EMPLOY - Training and employment for a sustainable alternative to migration in the rural areas of Wolatia, Ethiopia
- HUB-IT The HUB for boosting the Responsibility and inclusiveness of ICT enabled Research and Innovation through constructive interactions with SSH research
- AHEH Arts and Humanities Enterprise Hub
- PANGEA – New Generation Theme Park
- MIDAS Control of a team of mini-UAVs to support counter-terrorism missions
Title: EMPLOY - Training and employment for a sustainable alternative to migration in rural Wolatia, Ethiopia
Duration: 21 months
Start date: january 2017
Finish date: september 2018
Partner:
- CEFA European Committee for Training and Agriculture Onlus (proposing institution)
- CCCA - Liaison Committee of Catholics for a Civilisation of Love
- Link Campus University
- Sudgest Aid
- National Microfinance Institution
- ANSPC - National Association for the Study of Credit Problems
- WODA - Wolaita Development Association
Localization:
100 rural villages located in 5 Districts of the Wolaita Zone, Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region (SNNPR), Ethiopia
Description:The aim of the EMPLOY project is to promote socio-economic development, in a rural area of Southern Ethiopia, in particular through the creation of job opportunities, especially for the younger generation; as well as to create the conditions for an integrated and sustainable development, in order to mitigate or reduce the propensity of local populations to migrate, internally and internationally.
This initiative is aimed at promoting local development processes through integrated and participatory bottom-up planning methods, with the active involvement of local communities. The aim of the project is to help create conditions that enable people to have sustainable jobs and promote equity, while also reducing the risk of irregular migration, in line with the Valletta Action Plan.
Furthermore, the project will contribute to the achievement of several UN-sponsored SDGs: poverty reduction (SDG1), promotion of gender equality (SDG5) and decent employment and economic growth (SDG8).
The action aims to encourage self-development while supporting the local economy as a way of combating poverty and creating decent living conditions for rural populations. Project efforts to support the local economic and social fabric will aim to strengthen social protection and pay particular attention to the needs of the most vulnerable sections of the population.
Activities carried out:
The "needs-identification phase", 100 villages in the Wolaita Zone (named after the people who live there), one of the 13 Local Administrations that make up the Southern States Region, located 300 km from the capital Addis Abeba, have been involved.
In order to promote agricultural training, associationism in rural areas and the creation of job opportunities and increased income, particularly for young people, the following macro-activities have been set up: 1) Technical training in agriculture for improving production in the vegetable, fruit, cereal and honey sectors; 2) Socio-organisational training for the improvement of farmers' association practices and a more structured approach to the market; 3) Support and advocacy actions with local institutions to influence agricultural, trade and credit policies; 4) Training on access to financial and credit instruments, provision of micro-credits and support to local financial actors; 5) Creation of international exchange opportunities between Italian and Ethiopian good practices.
Funds:
The funding body is the Ministry of the Interior, Department for Civil Liberties and Immigration, Office III - International Relations
Title: HUB-IT - The HUB for boosting the Responsibility and inclusiveness of ICT enabled Research and Innovation through constructive interactions with SSH research.
Start date: 01/10/2017
Finish date: 30/09/2020
Client/Partner/RTI: Partnership EU, coordinator CIVITTA EESTI AS (EST)
Description: The long-term strategy of the project is to contribute to making ICT technologies, applied to Research and Innovation, more responsible, inclusive and accessible.
The specific aim of HubIT is to establish a hub that will activate and enhance constructive and co-creative interactions between SSH and ICT disciplines in the development and implementation of a shared and inclusive vision.
HubIT will activate constructive interactions between the stakeholders constituting the RRI-SSH, through various networking and engangement activities introduced in the WP structure, aiming to develop a European framework model for the implementation of responsible and inclusive ICT Research and Innovation.
Activities carried out:
- Key Challenge Matrix
- Tool for assessing RRI and SSH perspectives in ICT
- Guidelines for Research and Innovation in ICT
- Repository for Best Practices
- Fact sheets and policy summaries
- Measurable success indicators
- Policy Recommendations
- Virtual Matching Catalogue
- HubIT Utilisation Plan
Funds:
- H2020
- Call: H2020-SC6-REV-INEQUAL-2016-2017
- (REVERSING INEQUALITIES AND PROMOTING FAIRNESS)
- Coordination and Support Action
Titolo: AHEH - Arts and Humanities Enterprise Hub
Start date: 01/11/2017
Finish date: 31/10/2020
Client/ Partner/RTI:
- Partnership EU, coordinator UNIVERSITY OF WALES TRINITY SAINT DAVID ROYAL CHARTER (England\Wales)
Description: AHEH (Arts and Humanities Enterprise Hub) is a project funded by the Erasmus+-European Knowledge Alliance programme, run by academic institutions and multisectoral companies that will address two key challenges:
- In contrast to vocational degrees, which train outgoing figures specifically for the labour market, courses of study in the arts and humanities focus strongly on the development of a number of transferable skills, including creativity and critical thinking, but which often do not translate directly and immediately, for the trained figures, into jobs or new businesses.
- Companies are generally proficient in managing incremental changes within their organisations. However, they often strive to implement disruptive changes necessary for innovation.
Activities carried out:- Context analysis
- Creation of AHEH training programmes
- Delivery of the pilot training programme
- Creation of websites and social spaces
- Dissemination
Funds:
- Erasmus + Programme – Key Action 2 (KA2)
- Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices
- Call for Proposals EAC/A03/2016 – Knowledge Alliances
Title: PANGEA - New Generation Theme Park
Start date: Duration 24 months
Finish date:
Start date:TBD
Client/Partner/RTI: Italian partnership, coordinator SPACE SpA
Description: The project is framed in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector and responds to the proponents' objective of setting up an integrated system of knowledge and skills to radically innovate the theme park sector. The project starts from the assumption that the current operational configuration of theme parks revolves around four fundamental components:
1. The attractions themselves, conceived as self-sufficient islands with specific recreational and thematic purposes;
2. The backstage monitoring and control
3. Widespread theming and setting features, (mostly consisting of sound settings and multimedia shows at fixed times and occasions, which provide the system with an experiential glue able to accentuate the immersiveness perceived by visitors and their identification with the core themes)
4. Virtual musealisation processes that tend to give a transmedia communication approach aimed at prolonging the experience even after the visit is completed.
Activities carried out:
- The attractions of the New Generation Parks
- The integration and control system of the New Generation Parks
- The environment intelligence system of the New Generation Parks
- The virtual museum system of the new generation Parks
- Prototyping Application Solutions, Testing and Evaluation
Funds:
- Unified Programming 2014-2020
- POR ERDF Sardinia 2014 - 2020 Axis 1 Action 1.1.3
- Strategy 2 "Creating job opportunities by fostering business competitiveness".
- Intervention Programme 3 "Business competitiveness".
- AID FOR RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS
Title: Control of a team of mini-UAVs to support counter-terrorism missions
Funding Institution:
NATO Emerging Security Challenges Division, Science for Peace and Security SPS Programme
Start date: 30.11.2017
Finish date:29.11.2019
Client / Partner / RTI
- Link Campus University, Italy (Coordinator)
- State Police Academy "Stefan Cel Mare", Republic of Moldova
- Kingston University– KU, UK
- Universitatea de Stat din Tiraspol – UST, Republic of Moldova
- International Institute of Management IMI-Nova, Republic of Moldova
Project Abstract:
The MIDAS project proposes an innovative approach to the detection & tracking of potential terrorist threats in urban areas. The concept is based on the use of teams of UAVs-Aerial Vehicles working together to provide (1) operational support in case of terrorist attacks in an urban environment (2) surveillance of critical infrastructure and/or areas of interest.
The main objective of MIDAS is to research and develop a command and control framework that enables the efficient coordination of teams of mini-UAVs capable of performing specific detection and tracking tasks in complex urban environments.
The UAVs will be equipped with different types of sensor payloads (cameras, IR sensors, acoustic sensors, etc.) and will be able to (1) acquire information from the operational scenario (2) share this information with the GCS-Ground Control Station through dedicated communication infrastructures (3) provide decision support to the MCO-Mission Control Operator operating at the tactical and strategic level.
In the GCS, heterogeneous information collected by the sensors will be collected and, through a real-time data fusion engine, this data will be appropriately combined to generate complex events that will be visualised on the HMI-Human Machine Interface console.
HMI is the interface through which the MCO can interact with the UAVs and is the module in which decision-making and operational processes reside: Operators and "decision makers" will use the HMI console in order to (1) dynamically modify the mission tasks and objectives based on the information gathered in the field by the UAVs team (2) optimise the decision-making process thanks to the "Augmented Situational Awareness" provided by the data fusion engine (3) better support the security operators deployed in the field with tactical-strategic information.
The MIDAS framework may be used in typical scenarios where the risk for the human operator is too high and the Mission Control Operator needs to use the system capabilities in order to collect additional information from the field and thus detect and monitor potential suspicious targets in the urban environment (men, vehicles, abandoned objects, etc.).
Planned activities:
- Administrative and technical project management, application of appropriate risk management methods (technical and programme), quality and confidentiality management of project outputs, management of IPR-Intellectual Property Rights.
- Analysis of End-Users requirements, translation of said requirements into functional system requirements, definition of reference operating scenarios, identification of the most suitable sensor payloads;
- Definition of a modular, scalable and low-cost system architecture to meet the End-User's requirements and operational requirements;
Research and development of specific data fusion and video analysis algorithms to process sensor data;
- Testing, Validation and Demonstration of the MIDAS concept in simulated but realistic environments in line with the identified operational reference scenarios;
- Management of dissemination activities of the project results through scientific publications, workshops, participation in conferences, training activities, etc.