New UK Government funding for Media Cloud

The Bloomsbury Colleges led by the RVC has just received funding from the UK Government to develop a "media cloud" with a specific focus on international development. The 15-month initiative involves six internationally renowned institutions within the University of London (Birkbeck, Institute of Education, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Royal Veterinary College, School of Oriental and African Studies, and The School of Pharmacy). It is being undertaken in collaboration with the London International Development Centre – an academic organisation which brings together social and natural scientists to facilitate interdisciplinary research and training.

The project is funded by £87,709 from JISC - a UK Government body which develops partnerships to enable the UK education and research communities to engage in national and global collaborations. Innovative internet-based approaches are central to the project, including the storage of digital resources in ‘the cloud’ – a virtual space online.

Material generated by the project will include:

Programmes on key international development topics, including:

o        Access to medicines

o        Animal and human health (including bird flu and swine flu)

o        Climate change

o        Future of the Millennium Development Goals

o        Water resources

Specially commissioned programmes to coincide with major events in the international development calendar, including:

o        International Women’s Day, 8 March

o        World Tuberculosis Day, 24 March

o        Peace one day, 21 September

o        World AIDS Day, 1 December

Short presentations profiling the international development expertise and training offered by the Bloomsbury Colleges within various categories, including:

o        Health and health promotion

o        Food production and security

o        Environment and biodiversity

o        Rural development

o        Water and sanitation

o        Education

o        Sustainable development

The intention is to make these cloud hosted resources available through an open portal. They will then be accessible to students anywhere in the world. Of particular significance to this blog though is the plan to tailor some of these resources for use on mobile phones in the developing world. Revisit this blog regularly for more details....