New national photonics portal launches today

A new national web portal for photonics is being launched today with a key aim of mapping the UK’s activity in the sector so that industry and academia can discover resources and collaborators. Photonics technology is used in a wide range of manufacturing processes, telecommunications, healthcare, defence, data storage and renewable energy.

UK Photonics.org is a knowledge-driven portal that makes use of semantic web technologies to draw together the breadth of UK photonics research capability including: organisations, techniques, people and equipment, to facilitate collaboration in this growing industry.

Hosted by the EPSRC Centre for Innovative Manufacturing in Photonics at the University of Southampton, the site is being launched to coincide with Horizon 2020 where the EU Commission is announcing calls for photonics research projects.

The site works by collating information from a host of sources including universities and industry sites such as the European Photonics Industry Consortium (EPIC). Data on the site is dynamic and is automatically refreshed from source. The flexible nature of the underlying technology allows for the easy integration of additional data sources and portal content will be enriched with on-going collaboration.

Dr Gilberto Brambilla, Director for the EPSRC Centre based in Southampton said: “This national photonics gateway is the first port of call for anyone who has a question concerning photonics in the UK.

“The site will enable users to match their requirements to expertise or capabilities offered by UK photonics organisations: we’ve drawn together the best sources and made this information accessible. It’s the perfect starting point to finding your next collaboration opportunity.â€?

Susan Peacock, EPSRC Information and Communications Technologies ICT Portfolio Manager, said: “This site is important as it will give UK companies and research prominence across Europe. Photonics is central to many modern day technologies and is a sector that is continuing to grow, with new applications emerging that offer solutions to many global societal challenges, including medical technologies for health, and security.â€?