React Innovation Centre
We're a community-based project focussing on delivering innovative and scalable solutions to the real challenges being seen within healthcare and tech, energy and sustainability and smart manufacturing verticals.The REACT (Research, Engage, Academia, Community and Technology) Innovation Centre is a community-based project driven by industry, academia and local community teams. Our primary focus is on delivering innovative and scalable solutions to the real challenges being faced within healthcare/tech, energy and sustainability and smart manufacturing verticals. We will achieve this through the creation of a centre of excellence at LSBU (London South Bank University) in Croydon.
Vertical 1: Healthcare/tech
Community and population health is under significant pressure and this project will focus on innovations in both patients’ choice and experience (i.e. “healthcare built for me”). We will be targeting local based care models, providing integrated support and care that deliver early prevention/detection, admission avoidance and digitalisation of hospital care pathways through effective and efficient deployment of intelligent infrastructure (5G, MEC, WiFi-6, IOT).
Vertical 2: Energy and sustainability across critical infrastructures
We will have a clear focus on driving solutions and demonstrations that are sustainable and built to support reduced emissions, as we transition to renewables. Our global energy transition must thrive in our fight against climate change and pollution. It is critical to develop cross-sector approaches for net zero (and negative) emissions. This vertical will target local and nationally sustainable and resilient demonstrations, built to support reduced emissions as we transition from fossil fuel technologies to renewables.
Vertical 3: Smart manufacturing and industry 4.0/5.0 themes
We will focus on improving UK’s and EMEA’s capacity to roll-out advanced materials using new smart manufacturing processes and systems while augmenting “net zero” and waste reduction strategies through implementation of digital twin and Artificial intelligence.
Our commitment
Commitment to the local community and education are key objectives of this project and will see investment in multi-generational locally trained talent, local research and innovation strategies as well as enabling Croydon to attract new talent to the area.
We want to improve co-creation and outreach opportunities, granting access to the latest in technological research and deployment, so that we can promote upskilling and increase employability outcomes. We will co-develop training pathways to structure access to the network and our applications. Our focus is on outreach with local community engagement at its heart.
We will deliver smart energy sensing, pollution monitoring, energy reduction provision and renewable energy integration for critical infrastructures e.g., hospitals and care homes, social housing, local community efforts, remote care and hospital at home support, smart city elements (smart streets).
The centre’s energy and sustainability core lies in researching and demonstrating synergies between the critical communications and power system sectors, key enablers for a scalable and sustainable energy transition, uniting urban and rural communities and supporting other critical sectors, including health, automotive, transport, manufacturing, voice, video, data and AR/VR.
A key part of the LSBU demonstrator is the Croydon-based private 5G network associated hardware and software for real-time measurement, digital twin emulation set-up, hypothesising and modelling the necessary steps for infrastructural change, interoperability and their real-world impact. Scenarios and events can be co-created, augmented and tested in real-time for many user cases in the sectors above. Uniquely, the system is available to support consultation, training, public and private collaboration opportunities and demonstrations.
The REACT Innovation Centre (Research, Engage, Academia, Community, Technology) will be used as a flagship for creating and sustaining partnerships with large industry, local schools, colleges, local businesses, and councils to understand and co-develop opportunities for their communities to engage in the energy and health revolutions.
The main REACT IC objectives are:
- Deploy an evolving intelligent infrastructure across the sectors identified that enables effective Research, Training and Development environments with LSBU.
- Create a “Centre of Excellence” focused on future healthcare/Tech, Energy and Smart manufacturing models that support sustainable innovative solutions.
- Create a “5G/MEC/WiFi-6 Network Emulators” that can be used by technology start- ups, researchers, students and innovators to test and pilot solutions on intelligent infrastructures of the future.
- Be a “Go to” internationally recognized centre for research/training and personal development across Healthcare/Tech, Energy and Sustainability and Smart Manufacturing
- Support the evolution and deployment of “Pilots/Point-of-Care” in support of both community and national based scalable solutions, establishing a best practice in delivering pilots or proof of concepts into Healthcare/Tech, Energy and Sustainability and related Smart Manufacturing that ensure effective scalable use of the solutions.
- Critical Industrial Knowledge transfer between community teams and educational courses, building the workforce of the future.
- Engage local health organisations and wider government support structures in healthcare to support and trial digital transformation across healthcare.
- Support the development of Spin-Outs and SMEs in the chosen verticals along with appropriate mentorship and engagement
- Engage cross-sector organisations and wider government networks in their renewable energy transition and net-zero and sustainability aspirations to support and trial digital transformation across critical infrastructures
The REACT Innovation Centre sits at Electric House, on the LSBU Croydon campus. It is at the heart of the borough’s renovation, recreating community and bringing vibrancy and energy once more. The centre draws on the strength of research and teaching at LSBU within the School of Engineering, particularly in the themes of energy and sustainability, bioengineering and cognitive systems, including smart cities.
The School has also established a cross-disciplinary collaboration with the Institute of Health and Social Care at LSBU and engaged with industrial partners to provide and collaborate on immersive health and tech training/research, innovative solutions, intake of digital technologies in the health sector and innovations for nursing and selected healthcare facing students.
Our partners
5G VPN
Our exclusive 5G VPN installation emerges from a partnership created between Croydon, LSBU, Verizon and Nokia. This enables the creation of the Croydon’s hub “5G/MEC/WiFi-6 Network Emulators”, that can be used by technology start- ups, researchers, students and innovators to test and pilot solutions on the intelligent infrastructures of the future.
Mammowave equipment
This machine is currently used for breast screening but is also moving towards lung and brain modules, demonstrating how new technologies are modular in design – a key energy and smart manufacturing characteristic. This creates opportunities for SME’s to i) get involved in design in low power, sustainable health tech, ii) create products where gaps are noted and iii) be supported in skill development, product development and immediate testing in the Innovation Centre.
Innovative tech solutions
Innovative tech solutions will be provided by our industrial partners, such as command control management solutions, tracking systems and smart bed.