PETRAS 2

PETRAS 2 Research Centre

The fast-paced evolution of digital technologies, combined with social and business trends, is opening up vast opportunities for innovation in product and service markets, as well as government processes. As technology advances, it influences changes in society and behavior, and these changes, in turn, drive further technological developments. The rapid rate of change poses a considerable challenge for both public and private sectors in keeping up with and effectively responding to these high-speed developments. Therefore, agile governance and policy-making focused on emerging technologies are bound to become a pivotal theme in the strategic thinking of both public and private sectors. 

Some of the particular trends that currently pose challenges and will continue to impact society involve technologies at the fringes of the internet. These encompass Artificial Intelligence, not limited to the cloud but also extending to Edge computing, as well as the Internet of Things devices and networks. Additionally, Distributed Ledger Technology plays a role in this ecosystem. The combination of these technologies opens up possibilities for innovative solutions that enhance productivity, such as peer-to-peer dynamic contracts and automated decision processes, operating with or without human intervention. However, the autonomy, widespread adoption, and utilization of these technologies in critical applications also expose them to significant risks, including the potential for hacking and other cyberattacks. As these risks escalate, they could eventually become a matter of strategic national importance. 

To tackle these challenges and safeguard the substantial economic and productivity advantages that arise from the successful implementation of digital technologies at the edge, a targeted initiative is essential. The ideal approach would leverage the existing expertise and experience of the UK in the safe and secure application of the Internet of Things. The contributors to this platform include PETRAS partners, and several other centres of excellence around the UK. 

As a solution to these challenges, is the all-inclusive PETRAS 2 Research Centre, which carries significant national strategic value, built upon the well-established and successful platform of the PETRAS Hub. This new centre inherits the effective governance and management models of its predecessor, which have proven their ability to foster collaboration among 11 universities and 110 industrial and government User Partners. However, PETRAS 2 goes a step further by enhancing its mission and inclusivity through open research calls that welcome new and existing academic partners into the fold. The centre maintains an agile and collaborative research agenda, addressing social and physical science challenges with equal importance, and encompassing a wide range of Technology Readiness Levels, with a special focus on those nearing market readiness. Operating as a virtual hub, PETRAS 2 acts as a powerful magnet for user partners to collaborate and will serve as a single expert voice for the government. The strong engagement from user partners is likely to continue, given the successes of the current PETRAS program, which managed to secure over £1 million in cash contributions from partners in 2018. 

The new PETRAS 2 ‘Secure Digital Technologies at the Edge’ methodology inherits the best of PETRAS, including open calls to the UK research community and a partnership-building fund that allows a responsive approach to opportunities that emerge from existing and new user and academic partnerships. PETRAS 2 is driven by sectoral cybersecurity priorities while retaining a discovery research agenda to horizon-scan and develop understanding of new threats and opportunities. The scope of projects and the associated Innovate UK SDTaP demonstrators, spans early to late TRLs and aims to put knowledge into real user partner practice. Furthermore, the development of many early career researchers through PETRAS 2 research activities should lead to a step change in our national capability and capacity to address this highly dynamic area of socio-technical opportunity and risk.