Project Details


WSIS Prizes Contest 2020 Nominee

Pilot Project for the development of R&D Centres in IoT


Description

The goal is to instill the Culture of Innovation in IoT implementing R&D Centres in IoT to increase the country productivity, encourage the Academia and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) participation in standards development at ITU (BSG) and promote investments by private-sector companies.
The main result of this project is the formation of an alliance between the Faculties, Business Chambers, Technology SMEs, service operators and provincial and municipal governments. This alliance is set to be the users of the products and services developed by each R&D Centre.
The impact generated by this association allow the development of projects in the community to which each R&D Centre belongs, thus forming a local IoT development ecosystem.
The project began as a pilot project in three Regional faculties of the UTN and is spreading through the 33 branches that this University has across the length and breadth of Argentina. The results and experiences will be shared with other Universities within the framework of the Argentine Universities Project in the ITU in order to replicate them.
It will be a tool to elaborate a National IoT Plan and a base to replicate this experience through the Academy of the Americas Region.

Project website

https://uit.frsf.utn.edu.ar/proyecto


Images

Action lines related to this project
  • AL C1. The role of governments and all stakeholders in the promotion of ICTs for development
  • AL C2. Information and communication infrastructure
  • AL C3. Access to information and knowledge
  • AL C4. Capacity building
  • AL C5. Building confidence and security in use of ICTs
  • AL C6. Enabling environment
  • AL C7. E-government
  • AL C7. E-environment
  • AL C7. E-agriculture
  • AL C7. E-science
  • AL C11. International and regional cooperation 2020
Sustainable development goals related to this project
  • Goal 1: No poverty
  • Goal 3: Good health and well-being
  • Goal 4: Quality education
  • Goal 6: Clean water and sanitation
  • Goal 7: Affordable and clean energy
  • Goal 8: Decent work and economic growth
  • Goal 9: Industry, innovation and infrastructure
  • Goal 10: Reduced inequalities
  • Goal 11: Sustainable cities and communities
  • Goal 12: Responsible consumption and production
  • Goal 13: Climate action
  • Goal 14: Life below water
  • Goal 15: Life on land
  • Goal 17: Partnerships for the goals

Coverage
  • Argentina

Status

Completed

Start date

22 July 2019

End date

30 December 2019


Target beneficiary group(s)
  • Youth
  • Women
  • The unemployed
  • The poor
  • Remote and rural communities

Replicability

The project is replicable in each university-based research centre throughout the country. The agreements reached with the companies that provide various technologies are extended to each IoT R&D Centre created in Argentina and in the Latin American countries where they operate.
The exponential growth of the population and urbanization together with the development of technology and communications has proposed new ways of generating applications in order to improve services in cities with a direct impact on people's quality of life and environment.
However, the necessary architectures, culture, technical-economic feasibility studies, the use of ICTs, climatic aspects, local or national regulations on the use of telecommunications and spectrum, the political situation, among other relevant aspects, are important to propose specific solutions that are feasible for a particular city or region.
Specifically, it is proposed to develop a Pilot Project to establish IoT R&D Centres with special emphasis on disseminating the results to the community and establishing close links with different entities of the IoT ecosystem, promoting the creation of start-ups in IoT.
In this way one of the goals of this project is to be able to “Replicate the project in different subregions of America together with subregional organizations”
Some expected results for Argentina and the Americas Region are:
- A methodology to guide other public and private universities to develop similar R&D projects in IoT
- The collaboration with the ITU in the creation of at least two IoT R&D centres in other countries of the region, with the same objectives of the centres implemented in Argentina and the interconnection of all the centres and universities in a regional network.
In this way, the Americas region will have an organized network of universities and SMEs that will facilitate the exchange of knowledge and the development of technological products and applications that serve the communities in which each R&D Centre operates.


Sustainability

The IoT R&D Centres are sustainable due to the use of different sources of resources, on the one hand the salaries of the researchers are covered by the budget of the University as well as the research projects of the University that are usually supplemented with funds of the Ministry of Science and Technology and associated agencies. The laboratories used are owned by each faculty.
On the other hand, specific technological equipment is donated by the participating companies and some of which have signed joint marketing agreements with the R&D Centres.
Finally, and most importantly, the investigations are carried out with the agreements of future users in the area of influence of the Centre. This allows each development to generate resources that enhance the sustainability of the Centre.


WSIS values promotion

Few countries develop telecommunications technology. IoT development based on regional requirements favors the local development of technology and reduces these inequalities between countries. Young people are fundamental actors, as the creation resolution stands: “…facilitate the participation of young entrepreneurs in the processes of research and development of innovative products”* Collaboration among stakeholders is promoted by making agreements that includes: Academy, Tech SMEs, Business Chambers, national government and national and international organizations. Rise up the access to information and knowledge by: “…educational innovation by promoting training in the development of international recommendations and standards to reduce the standardization gap” * The development of specific applications tailored to local users will foster confidence and security in the use of ICT. Economic growth will be facilitated by increasing efficiency and productivity in the different research verticals generating economic benefits that contribute to lift the countries out of poverty. Objective in standardization: “...train student researchers and interns in the development of standards in the ITU and its working methods. Train and encourage participation in ITU activities, focusing on the development of new Recommendations and standards”* Each Centre carries out its research based on the needs of its area of influence: Energy efficiency with a steel mill, applications for smart cities with a municipal government, etc. Regional and international cooperation: “…it can be replicated in different subregions of the Americas together with subregional organizations”* “The second stage of the Project foresees to collaborate… in the creation of at least two Research centres… in other countries of the region… and the interconnection of them in a regional network” * (*) Resolution 864 UTN - FRSF: Creation of R&D Centres in IOT: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1yO4JHrjZ0K5MiHt1Dy2AC0WzWsAo5t8Y


Entity name

Universidad Tecnológica Nacional (UTN)

Entity country—type

Argentina Academia

Entity website

https://www.utn.edu.ar/

Partners

Municipalidad de Santa Fe, Yeap!, WND (Sigfox), Acindar, CESAR, CABASE, Artimar, Qualcomm, Telefónica, Elemon, Ecom Chaco S. A.