The Circular Economy Centre at Cambridge Judge shares EU grant to explore the interaction of the circular economy and the Internet of Things.
The Circular Economy Centre at Cambridge Judge Business School will have a 237,000 euro (£208,000) share of a 1.7 million euro European Union grant to exchange expertise on the Circular Economy and the Internet of Things (IoT) with two other European academic institutions and three industry partners.
The four year grant aims to develop an interplay framework between the circular economy and IoT, to explore novel ways in which this interaction can change the nature of products, services, business models and ecosystems. In contrast to a “linear” model that quickly uses up finite resources, the circular model calls for new technologies based on longevity, renewability, reuse and repair.
Dr Khaled Soufani, Director of the Circular Economy Centre at Cambridge Judge says:
This interplay between the circular economy and IoT is a fascinating and promising topic to explore. With the IoT connecting all sorts of products and services online, there is clear scope to promote circular economy goals through this technology.
Other participants in the project are Ecoles des Ponts ParisTech in France; Foundation for Research and Technology (FORTH) in Greece; telecoms firm Cablenet Communication Systems in Cyprus; consultants BlueSoft of Poland; and professional service firm Deloitte in Belgium.
The grant is administered by Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions – Research and Innovation Staff Exchange (RISE) programme of the European Commission. The RISE scheme promotes international and inter-sectoral collaboration through research, staff and knowledge exchanges, and seeks to convert creative ideas into innovative products and services.
It is expected that the grant will result in secondment opportunities for faculty, students and staff across Cambridge Judge within the consortium’s organisations.