Horizon 2020 and what it means for your business
I’m just back from the launch event for the European science and innovation funding programme Horizon 2020.
I was live tweeting from the event with hashtag #h2020, and here are some of the key take home messages relevant to SMEs like Agtel in Ireland and across Europe:
- Barbara Nolan, Head of Euorpean Commission Representation in Ireland says the programme is "not just for researchers"
- SMEs have been "mainstreamed" in this latest programme (which will follow on from FP7)
- Horizon 2020 "simplifies the whole landscape" says Alan Cross, DG RTD and it will help SMEs "make that leap" from lab to market
- It will have a new initiative to enable SMEs to apply for funding by themselves
- Horizon 2020 will offer new "inducement prizes" like X-prize as well
- Date for the diary: first Horizon 2020 calls out on 1/1/2014! But last FP7 call next year will pilot Horizon 2020 proposal style
- Irish presidency in 2013 could play decisive role in final adoption of Horizon 2020 says Barbara Nolan
- Some of the biggest changes are practical and Prof Yuri Volkov, TCD says he’s glad "timesheets are gone!"
- Cellix’s Vivienne Williams giving the SME perspective says her company is "R&D top heavy"
- Last FP7 call will probably "coincide with ESOF in Dublin" in July 2012 says Alan Cross
They’re the main points for SMEs, and the Forfás event next week will be next relevant Irish event. Science communication is key to the success of many of the Horizon 2020 initiatives, and we’re looking forward to seeing the programme roll out.
- Diarmaid ((JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address))
Irish Times splash for organic gardening DVD
It’s great to see a whole page in today’s Irish Times devoted to Bord Bia’s organic gardening initiative and the DVD we produced for them.
Aimed at primary schools, the Organic Gardening DVD equips primary school teachers and pupils with the knowledge and ability to build, develop and maintain an organic garden within existing school grounds.
Using an engaging style inspired by our TV work, this educational DVD can be watched straight through or in a modular approach, allowing teachers maximum flexibility. There are even DVD extras with videos and information on basic growing techniques and top tips for teachers.
We’re delighted that this inspirational DVD has captured both the energy and reality associated with organic gardening - and that the gardens are still going strong!
If you’re interested in creating an educational DVD or educational video yourself then get in touch with us here at Agtel and give us a call on 01 7088100. The Organic Gardeing DVD itself is available directly from Bord Bia - click here for more details.
Shuttle lifts off with video star
Space Shuttle Endeavour has lifted off with the star of one of our science videos on board - Italian ESA astronaut Roberto Vittori.
We’d a lot of fun working with Roberto who filmed some demonstrations on the International Space Station for our video last time he was up there. His entertaining pieces illustrated some key areas of robotics for an educational DVD series we did for the European Space Agency.
Called "Project: Zero Gravity", this award-winning DVD video series is one of the many science communication video productions we’re involved with, and it’s proven to be a great way of getting young people interested in science.
Hopefully Roberto enjoys this latest trip and comes back safely in a couple of weeks!
Agtel wins in Europe
We’re delighted that our recent successes in Europe have been featured in the latest edition of The Market magazine. You can read the full article online here, and we’ve reproduced the text below here too…
If you’d like to get a copy of our one page summary about our work in Europe or discuss the trends we’re seeing in video communication internationally just give me a call on +353 1 7088154 or e-mail me at (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
- Diarmaid Mac Mathúna, Head of Production, Agtel
Agtel wins in Europe
Best known for having its ‘Ear to the Ground’ on home soil, a Dublin media production company has just completed a video for the European Commission about radiation safety.
The video for the Directorate General for Energy is the latest in a series of commissions for the European Commission and the European Parliament that Agtel won following in competitive tenders and the company wishes to build on that success, says head of production Diarmaid Mac Mathúna.
“There is a perception that Dublin is on the edge of things when it comes to European media, but we have proved that is not the case,” he said. “Nevertheless, we are looking to form consortia with European partners to become more successful in winning European public sector tenders, and I’m spending quite a bit of time in Brussels building relationships with media companies there.” Agtel was formed in 1979 by John Cummins and its corporate clients include PriceWaterhouseCoopers, the UK’s Department for International Development, GlaxoSmithKline and the European Space Agency, as well as a number of Irish State agencies.
Mac Mathúna said: “The European Space Agency project was the most exciting that I have worked on – I was directing astronauts while they were in space, and when the video arrived for editing it still had the velcro attached that was used to stop it from floating away.” In the world of television, Agtel’s sister company, Independent Pictures, has produced mainstream programmes for RTE, BBC Northern Ireland and TG4. Mac Mathúna said: “I think our TG4 work has really helped, because it has given us plenty of experience of working in non-English media. One of our DVDs for the European Parliament was produced in 30 different languages.”
Agtel just back from filming in Uganda
The Agtel team are just back from filming in Uganda. We were there filming for Bóthar with Neven Maguire who’s one of their patrons.
Over the course of three days on the ground, we filmed Neven as he saw firsthand all the work Bóthar are doing and met some of the people involved. Shot in the style of a TV observational documentary in HD, this footage is now being edited into a short video that will tell the story of the whole trip. With distribution planned through web video as part of a social media campaign as well as on DVD, this production is just the latest in a series of videos we’ve done for Bóthar. You can watch the recent TV ad featuring Tommy Bowe and Tomás O’Leary we did for them here:
Bóthar is one of the not for profit organisations that we work with regularly and we love working with them and the team at Spark Marketing. If you’d like to learn more about our work for not for profit organisations or video production in general give me a call on 01 7088154, or e-mail me at (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
- Diarmaid Mac Mathúna, Head of Production, Agtel
Video for Dublin Port Masterplan
Our latest short video is about Dublin Port, and it’s part of the extensive Consultation Process for the development of the Masterplan for the Port.
The production uses stylish visuals and engaging interviews to describe the current operations of Dublin Port, detail some strategic issues and importantly invite participation from all interested parties in planning the future of the Port.
We really enjoyed working on this production for Dubiln Port and Gibney Communications - and you can see the video live on the Dublin Port site.
Census 2011: Agtel’s video encourages participation
As completed census forms are collected from all over the country, we’re hoping our recent video for Pavee Point and the Central Statistics Office will have helped encourage more participation by Travellers.
This engaging production highlights the importance of Traveller participation in Census 2011 - explaining and demystifying the census in a commonsense, easily accessible way using dramatised scenes, interviews and photographs. You can watch it here:
Science Communication
I’m just back from giving a talk to the physics students in Trinity College Dublin about Science Communication. It was great to hear how interested they were in this area - and who knows, maybe the next Brian Cox was in the audience!
Diarmaid
Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh launches schools DVD
I really enjoyed Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh’s launch of our latest schools DVD for our client COGG the other day.
He’s an amazing storyteller, and he had the audience at the Gaelscoileanna annual conference for Irish language schools in the palm of his hands!
Our DVD demonstrates lots of Irish language playground games using a TV-style approach that really engages its audience. Featuring two presenters and aimed at both teachers and primary school children, the teacher’s version of each video production includes karaoke-style lyrics and detailed instructions using voice-over. The kid’s versions gets straight into the games so that the teacher can use it as a teaching tool to explain the games quickly and simply.
Speaking at the launch event, Muireann Ní Mhóráin of COGG commented on how the original idea had been to produce a book of games, but that the some of the games were so hard to describe in words that it was decided a video would be much more effective. Accompanied by a full colour workbook by T.J. Ó Ceallaigh of PPDS, this pack will encourage the use of Irish outside the classroom and make it easy for teachers to get the children involved.
The DVD and workbook packs will soon be winging their way to every primary school in the country. There’s nothing like trying to play a skipping game through Irish to get kids interested!
"Spreag an Ghaeilge le Spraoi" mar a deir siad!
To find out more about this video production and our other educational DVDs and online video training materials, you can contact the author of this post Diarmaid Mac Mathúna, Head of Production, Agtel at (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or +353 1 7088154.
When will producing 3D video be affordable?
We’d all love to be producing 3D content, but when will it really become affordable?
James Cameron has added 16 extra minutes to Avatar at a whopping cost of $1 million per minute. That’s a little bit too expensive for most people, and it’s not something you can "cheat" in post production either. According to Cameron, you have to shoot it - 3D can’t be "fixed in post" as the saying goes, so it doesn’t look like the costs are going to tumble any time soon.
Oh and he thinks we’ll all be wearing those silly 3D glasses for a while yet.
Gizmodo have posted this really interesting short article summing up James Cameron’s strong opinions on 3D:
Glasses-less 3DTV is "Eight to Ten Years Away" From Taking Off, Says James Cameron
While glasses-less 3DTV is already winging its way to Japan in the shape of Toshiba’s two tiny TVs, James Cameron reckons it’s "eight to ten years away" until it autostereoscopic 3DTV properly takes off. For now, we’re stuck with glasses.
He spoke about 3DTV at the Blu-Con 2010 conference today, and shared some interesting details on the extended version of Avatar—apparently those extra 16 minutes ended up costing Fox $1 million per minute, which is the reason they chose to re-release it in cinemas, so as to try and recoup some of the costs.
Cameron has previously harped on about how the industry needs to shoot more in 3D, rather than applying it post-production like the studio of Clash of the Titans, and the latest Harry Potter movie did—or attempted, in the latter’s case.
"You see another stumble with the most recent Harry Potter movie from the same studio making the same mistake - except really getting spanked for it now because they didn’t get the film done.
They announced it in 3D - threw a bunch of money trying to convert it to 3D in post-production and it simply didn’t work. They just didn’t get it done."
Cameron’s signed on to do Avatar 2 and 3, which he’ll begin working on next year. While I do feel that particular story’s been flogged to death, Avatar was probably the greatest example of 3D. While I’m not personally a fan of the format I do await the day when I don’t have to squeeze a pair of 3D glasses onto the top of the glasses I already wear—nor fork out over $100 per pair of glasses. [BBC and TechRadar]
