Below you can find recent news and announcements from GovEd Communications and GovEd Technologies. Additional information or press releases are provided as links where applicable in this section.
For more information about our projects, outputs and products, please see the Projects, Video and Technology sections of this website.
For any other specific information relating to any of the announcements below, please contact us.
Recent updates from GovEd Communications are currently available on the websites of our seperate ventures Imperative Space and Carbon Visuals.
For general queries, please contact us.
Imperative Space has been engaged by the UK Space Agency and Intellect UK to film the UK Space Conference 2013 in Glasgow.
The event, which will feature keynote speeches from leading figures in the UK and European space community, and presentations on recent research and innovation across the sector, will be captured by Imperative Space as a 'video record', and the footage will be used to produce video summaries of key sessions following the event.
For more information, please contact us.
Imperative Space and GovEd Communications have been engaged by the Aspirations Academies Trust (AAT) to provide video production, design and advisory support for their forthcoming Space Studio School, due to launch in September 2014.
The Space Studio Banbury received a green light and funding from the government in April 2013, and will be the world's first school for 14-19 year olds focussed around opportunities in the space industry. The Space Studio will combine the AAT's established 'Aspirations Framework' with real-world space industry and engineering experiences, to provide unique and workplace-relevant learning opportunities.
Imperative Space will produce short films about the AAT philosophy, the development of the Space Studio school, and about the roles of real-world engineers linked to the Space Studio. We will also provide space industry expertise and support for design of the school and multimedia resources.
For further information about the Space Studio, please visit www.spacestudiobanbury.org.
For more information about these areas of our work, please contact us.
Imperative Space has been commissioned to produce a technically challenging, high-resolution video installation for the 28-screen 'Hyperwall' at the Satellite Applications Catapult, at Harwell, Oxfordshire.
The film, produced to coincide with the launch of the SatApps Catapult in May 2013, features original animation produced by Imperative Space, and showcases a range of real data and imagery generated from earth observation missions and other research.
The film was delivered at 4K resolution, but can be viewed at lower resolution here.
For more information, please contact us.
Imperative Space has been asked to join the new ventures programme at the Open Data Institute, to take forward a project based around earth observation data.
Alongside funding recently awarded to Imperative Space by the Technology Strategy Board, the ODI will provide technical support, advice and integration with other strands of activity within open data innovation.
Imperative Space will be working with a number of partners in the commercial space sector and in education to develop innovative apps and services for specialist audiences, using earth observation data.
Further information about this project will be made available later in 2013. In the meantime, if you would like to know more about this area of our work, please contact us.
The Space Engineering Higher Apprenticeship film produced by Imperative Space has been released as part of the launch events for the initiative.
The scheme was formally launched by Rt Hon David Willetts MP with a group of young engineers, at RAL Space in Oxfordshire, in March 2013.
The film can be viewed here: Higher Apprenticeship in Space Engineering - an Introduction.
For further information about Imperative Space's video production work, please contact us.
Imperative Space has been commissioned by Loughborough College and the National Space Academy to produce two short films about their new higher apprenticeships in space engineering.
The short documentary-style films will involve participation from employers across the UK space sector, and will be aimed at highlighting the strategic importance of the initiative to the space sector, as well as encouraging young people to consider the scheme.
For more information, please contact Imperative Space.
Carbon Visuals has been commissioned by Adaptation Scotland to produce a short documentary film highlighting stories and ground-breaking case-studies of how Scotland is adapting to climate change.
Entitled 'Scotland's Climate Stories', the film will focus on communities, businesses and local authorities who are innovating through infrastructure projects, new business processes and local action to prepare for the challenges and opportunities of a changing climate.
For more information, please contact Carbon Visuals.
A recently produced animation from GovEd's joint venture company Carbon Visuals illustrating the 'real-time' carbon dioxide emissions of New York City has been featured in online, broadcast and print media outlets around the world, and has proved a YouTube hit.
For more information, please see here: http://www.carbonvisuals.com/work/new-yorks-carbon-emissions-in-real-time
The first phase of Imperative Space's 'Day in the Life' films project, featuring leading UK space scientists and engineers, has been completed. The films are currently being distributed to education partners, and can now be viewed at the Imperative Space YouTube channel: [http://www.youtube.com/user/ImperativeSpace](http://www.youtube.com/user/ImperativeSpace).
For more information, please see here: http://www.imperativespace.com/latest/day-in-the-life-short-films-project.
Imperative Space has been selected as one of 50 innovative and socially-minded companies to be featured in the Pictures of Success project, part of the 'Earth Charter in Business' programme.
The project aims to highlight and share best practice from companies who are making a constructive and positive contribution to global development and environmental protection through their business activities.
For more information see the project website:
http://www.picturesofsuccess.org
GovEd Communications has completed a two year project with the University of Sheffield to domonstrate its interdisciplinary research capabilities through a series of over 50 videos.
The films are intended to support knowledge exchange and showcase research to industry and the public. The final suite of films produced have focussed on advances in Additive Manufacturing, and feature contributions from a diverse array of industry partners including Bloodhound SSC, Boeing, BMW and Fripp Design.
All of the films can be viewed on a dedicated website here: http://www.researchatsheffield.co.uk and at the follwing YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/ResearchatSheffield.
Carbon Visuals (GovEd's joint venture company) has been invited to present at a White House event for the seccond time. Following a successful contribution to the 'Energy Data Jam', hosted by the White House at Google's Manhattan offices in June 2012, Carbon Visuals has been asked to join the 'Energy Datapalooza' at the White House itself in October.
Carbon Visuals will also present at the South By Southwest Eco Festival in October.
For more information, contact Carbon Visuals.
Leading UK planetarium firm Global Immersion and Imperative Space have announced a new partnership in advance of the International Planetarium Society 2012 conference in Louisiana, at which they will co-present.
Imperative Space will act as a production partner for new full dome film projects, and the two firms will collaborate on a range of science centre and interactive technology projects.
Initial projects are already under way, and further projects will be announced in coming months.
For further information, please contact us.
Imperative Space associate Christopher Phillips has announced a project to help revitalise astronomy education in schools in Afghanistan, planned for Autumn 2012. Working with Astronomers without Borders, the Astronomy Association of Afghanistan and Imperative Space, Christopher with travel to schools in Kabul and in remote areas of Afghanistan, to provide lessons and observing sessions, and to distribute teaching resources and a specially written introductory book about Astronomy.
The project is volunteer-led and the partner organisations are providing support free of charge. In order to raise funds to cover the essential logistical costs, Christopher has launched a crowd-funding campaign on Indiegogo.com.
Further information can be found on the Imperative Space website, and on the Indiegogo fundraising website here.
Imperative Space (part of GovEd Communications) has been awarded funding by the UK Space Agency to produce a series of short films revealing 'a day in the life' of leading UK space scientists and engineers. The films will open a 'window' on the breadth of work conducted across this sector in the UK, and will provide an insight into the careers and roles available in the sector.
Each film will be accompanied by lesson plans and teaching resources, and the films will be distributed widely to science education organisations, science centres and online.
For more information, please contact us.
GovEd's joint venture company Carbon Visuals has produced an implementation of its visualisation software which has been endorsed by Google through inclusion on the Google Earth website as an exemplar project. The Google Earth Carbon Visualiser tool has been piloted using the emissions data of 40,000 public buildings in the UK, but can now be reversioned by Carbon Visuals for use with any data set.
Visit http://www.carbonvisuals.com/work/google-earth-uk-public-buildings for more information.
Portable Space Signposts have been used in further high profile events and by leading space organisations in recent events. The UK Space Agency have used one as a centrepiece at conference stands during events such as the UK Space Conference and Innovate '11, and RAL Space have been using a Signpost for educational visits and outreach activity.
Space Signpost is continuing to demonstrate its value as a versatile engagement and communications tool. For more information, please contact us.
YouTube's global Space Lab competition, co-designed by GovEd Communications, has been launched. The competition is a major global science eduction initiative, involving major space agencies including NASA, UKSA, ESA and JAXA, and other science and education organisations, and involves high profile advisors and judges from across the science world, including Profesor Stephen Hawking, several astronauts, and GovEd/Imperative Space Associate Dr Becky Parker.
The competition will involve groups of school children around the world competing to design experiments to be performed on board the International Space Station. The winners will see their experiments built and flown to the ISS in 2013, and other prizes will include a host of space related experiences including elements of astronaut training.
In the words of YouTube, GovEd Communications "helped shape the overall thinking of the project".
For more information, please visit: www.imperativespace.com/latest/youtube-space-lab.
A film produced by GovEd Communications about the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre in Sheffield has been used as a communications centrepiece at Innovate '11 and a high profile event at the House of Lords linked to the planned Technology Innovation Centre in Advanced Manufacturing, of which the AMRC will be a central part.
The film was originally produced as part of a series of films profiling cutting-edge research at the University of Sheffield.
The film can be viewed at: http://www.researchatsheffield.co.uk/themes/#manufacturing
A new venture, Imperative Space, has been launched to provide education, media, communications and creative services to private and public organisations working in the rapidly growing space sector.
Imperative Space, a spin-out from GovEd Communications, aims to widen access to the benefits of space exploration and research through innovative projects and services, creative communications and educational outreach.
Bringing together space scientists, engineers, communicators and educators with inspiring track records, the Imperative Space team combines creativity and achievement with a clear understanding of the emerging new space economy and the changing technology and financial landscape in the sector.
For more information, please visit http://www.imperativespace.com/news/impertive-space-launches.
GovEd Communications has produced a unique set of films for the University of Sheffield, profiling leading-edge research across the University in five 'cross-cutting' themes: Water, Energy, Advanced Manufacturing, Healthcare Technologies, and The Environment. Produced in a documentary style, the more than 30 films provide an accessible but in-depth insight into the large scale facilities, industry partnerships and interdisciplinary research led by the University. Intended principally as a showcase to industry and investors, the films have also been used in public engagement and education contexts.
The full set of films can bew viewed at: www.researchatsheffield.co.uk.
For more information, please contact us.
Carbon Visuals, GovEd's joint venture with CarbonSense, has completed a research project funded by the Technology Strategy Board to develop new web tools as part of its suite of visualisation apps for greenhouse gas related communications. The new tools relate to real-time visualisations and handling of large data sets.
For more information, please visit www.carbonvisuals.com.
The BBC's Bang Goes The Theory Live roadshows have been using a portable Space Signpost at science events across the country during 2011. The Signpost provides an added dimension to presentations on space topics by the BBC1 show's presenters including Dallas Campbell. It has also proved a hit with visitors of all ages when on display in the interactive zone at these events.
The Signpost's final outing with the BBC 'Bang' events for this year will be at the London Science Festival from 19th to 26th October 2011.
GovEd Communications has been commissioned by Eco Schools to create a new set of curriculum resources and lesson plans for secondary schools participating in the scheme. Working closely with CSR consultancy I Am Tomorrow, GovEd is producing the resources as part of a wider refresh of EcoSchools, which will include new business services for schools and a new learning platform.
Fosr further information, please contact us.
GovEd's Creative Director Adam Nieman has been invited to participate in the annual Sci Foo Camp event at the Googleplex in Mountainview, California. Adam, who is also well known as a leading innovator in data visualisation and pioneered the techniques behind Carbon Visuals, will be the second member of the GovEd team to attend Sci Foo, following Chris Riley's participation in 2010. Sci Foo is a unique, invite-only event bringing together leading thinkers in science, digital media and creative arts.
The latest version of GovEd's Portable Space Signpost has been used in pride of place at the inaugural UK Space Conference. As a prominent feature of the UK Space Agency stand at the conference, it was enjoyed during the two day event by a wide range of visitors including Science Minister David Willetts MP, senior officials, business leaders and school children. The Signpost also featured widely in coverage of the event, including on CNN and othe broadcast reports.
For further information about Space Signpost, please contact us.
GovEd Communications has constructed a new version of its innovative Portable Space Signpost product for the European Space Agency. The new configuration provides an integrated solution for using Space Signpost in conferences, shows, and outreach events. It includes a large touchscreen display and integrated computer running the latest 'Welcome to the Neighbourhood' software, housed within a portable podium arrangement.
For more information, please contact us.
GovEd Communications has announced the forthcoming launch of a new, dedicated service-offering for the Space sector. Due to launch in the summer 2011, the new enterprise will provide full-scale media, education, outreach and creative services tailored for the needs of the growing Space sector, in the UK and beyond. This new venture will build on GovEd’s wide-ranging portfolio of existing space-related projects, including Our Space, Space Signpost, and Chris Riley’s breathtaking new film First Orbit (with executive producer Ravi Kapur) which is due for release on 12th April 2011.
For more information, please visit www.space-com.co.uk, or contact Ravi Kapur.
Chris Riley’s spectacular new film First Orbit, re-living the original flight of first man in space Yuri Gagarin, will be released on 12th April 2011, the 50th anniversary of Gagarin’s mission. The film will be premiered around the world on YouTube, at special events hosted in dozens of countries, and on the BBC’s city-centre big screens across the UK.
The film provides a new view of the Earth, filmed exclusively for the project by ESA astronaut Paolo Nespoli from the Cupola window of the ISS in January 2011, and matches the exact location and time of day viewed by Gagarin with the original audio from his flight. The excitement in his voice is made even more poignant by the beauty of the images and a mesmerising soundtrack by Philip Sheppard.
The film was conceived, produced and directed by GovEd’s head of media projects Chris Riley, through his The Attic Room production stable, with executive producer Ravi Kapur, GovEd’s managing director.
For more information and to download the film, visit www.firstorbit.org.
To find out more about GovEd’s forthcoming new service-offering dedicated to space-related communications, media and education projects, please visit www.space-com.co.uk
GovEd's creative director Adam Nieman has been commissioned to produce an installation for the Manchester Future Everything Festival. Further details can be found at: http://futureeverything.org/art/ourcity/.
Carbon Visuals, GovEd's joint venture company with CarbonSense, has launched a new website at www.carbonvisuals.com, which showcases examples of bespoke visualisation and animation work produced for a range of clients, and innovations such as the Carbon Quilt.
GovEd Communications has been commissioned by the University of Sheffield to produce a further four science documentary films and additional video content, following on from the water research film produced last year. Each of the four films will focus on a specific area of cutting-edge research at the university, and will highlight the ground-breaking multi-disciplinary partnerships of which the university is a part.
For more information, please contact us.
GovEd Communications has been awarded a contract by the UK Space Agency to provide multimedia resources in partnership with Footagevault for ESERO-UK. The resources will include space archive clips from Footagevault, specially tagged with curriculum-related meta-data. This is the second contract for GovEd from the UK Space Agency in less than a year, following on from the successful Our Space project. For further information, please contact us.
GovEd Communications has completed delivery of over 15,000 educationally and historically meta-tagged digital images for the JISC 'Digital Images in Education' collection. GovEd worked with leading Italian photographer Francesco Troina (www.phototroina.com) to select images from across his personal collection, including architecture, arts, culture, music, engineering, travel and wildlife images covering a period of 25 years. The JISC Digital Images for Education project also includes collections from leading archives including Getty, ITN and AP, and will launch with a service for the FE and HE sectors in June 2011.
Further details can be found at: http://imagesforeducation.org.uk/about/. For additional information, please contact us.
The KTA (knowledge transfer account) team at the University of Sheffield has commissioned GovEd Communications to produce a documentary film and additional video content about cutting edge and multi-disciplinary water research work across the university. For further information, please contact us.
GovEd Communications has been asked to provide Project Faraday-based design consultancy and training to Holden Lane High School in Stoke-on-Trent. For further information, please contact us.
The winners of the first Our Space competition have been announced at a special event during the Farnborough International Airshow. GovEd's managing director Ravi Kapur and astronaut Jean Francois Clervoy were amongst the speakers at the event. Details of the winners can be found on the Our Space website, here.
GovEd's creative director Dr Adam Nieman has been filmed along with the original Space Signpost in Bristol for a new BBC television series about digrams and mathematics, presented by Marcus du Sautoy. The series is due for air later in 2010. For more information, please contact us.
The Royal Commonwealth Society has commissioned GovEd and Carbon Visuals (GovEd's joint venture with CarbonSense) to create an interactive website and energy use visualisation solution for their Climate Change Challenge (CCC), due for launch in September 2010. The CCC will see 144 families across 12 Commonwealth countries competing to reduce their energy usage and carbon emmissions in a series of tough challenges. The website will also use Carbon Visuals' webtools such as the Carbon Quilt and embeddable carbon visualisation widget. For more information, please contact us.
GovEd's creative director Dr Adam Nieman has been interviewed for the BBC World Service programme One Planet. The programme focussed on the unique GHG visualisation techniques of Carbon Visuals Ltd (a GovEd-CarbonSense joint venture). You can hear the programme at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/science/2009/03/000000_one_planet.shtml, and read the blog at: http://carbonquilt.posterous.com/bbc-one-planets-carbon-footprint.
The Carbon Quilt project and the wider work of Carbon Visuals Ltd (the GovEd-CarbonSense joint venture) has been featured in the New York Times Science blog. The article, whcih includes a detailed interview with GovEd's creative director Adam Nieman, can be found here: http://nyti.ms/cRT3i8
Our Space, a unique multimedia space education project from GovEd Communications, in collaboration with QMUL and Venture Thinking, has now gone live at www.our-space.org. Funded by Space Adventures, UKSA and SEPnet, the project uses unique video footage shot by private astronaut Richard Garriott on board the ISS, along with other material from Footagevault, photographs, audio files and other resources, which students can download and turn into their own multimedia 'mash-ups'.
The Portable Space Signpost has been showcased at the SXSW Festival in Austin, Texas, at the invitation of private astronaut Richard Garriott. The Signpost was shown alongside item's from Richard's unique collection of historical Space artefacts, including an original Sputnik and his own space suit. The event was linked to the premier of Richard's documentary film 'Man on a Mission'.
GovEd Communications has been asked to produce a second social care related video project for Liverpool City Council, focusing on 'Telecare'. The film will take the same approach as the Liverpool Supporting People film, mixing strong documentary story telling with sharing of good practice. Read more.
GovEd Communications is working with QMUL, BNSC, Space Adventures and astronaut Richard Garriott on a space education-focused multimedia project, website and competition. GovEd has been commissioned to produce edited video clips and a website housing digital assetts from Richard Garriott's mission to the International Space Station in October 2008. Read more.
A podium-mounted Portable Space Signpost has been shown to MPs, Peers and leaders from the UK Space Industry at the Parliamentary Space Committee Reception in the House of Commons on 16th December. The Signpost received praise as an educational and public engagement tool for a wide range of attendees at the event, including private astronaut Richard Garriott and Lembit Opik MP.
GovEd Communications is partnering with California-based Kailuna Productions to co-produce a one-hour documentary film for television, following the restoration of the world's oldest complete computer, known as the 'WITCH', at Bletchley Park. The film will combine fly-on-the-wall filming with compelling oral history and archive material, and will feature as an episode of Kailuna's 'Ultimate Restorations' series due for international broadcast in 2010/11. For more information, please contact us.
Carbon Visuals Ltd, the new joint venture between GovEd and CarbonSense, has provided a range of bespoke graphics and animations for Central Bedfordshire Council using the speacialist Carbon Quilt visualisation techniques. The images, showing carbon emissions for each area of the Council's work and the reductions required to meet 2020 targets, have been used in a Council conference and for internal and external communications. For more information, please contact us.
Futurelab have commissioned GovEd Technologies to provide a new version of the portable Space Signpost for inclusion in a major new touring exhibition of educational technologies. The exhibition will feature cutting edge designs, products and systems from Futurelab's own projects and beyond, and will tour for two years, including stands at BETT, other major shows and special regionally-hosted events. The new version sees the Space Signpost mounted in a pedastal with built-in computer.
GovEd Communications and Queen Mary's, University of London have established a unique partnership to enable third-year undergraduate computer science students to contribute to cutting-edge, 'real-world' technology projects. GovEd will provide the project ideas, mentoring, advice and the opportunity for students to see a tangible application for their final year projects within a short time-frame. Initial projects will focus on climate change and democratic engagement.
GovEd Communications has been asked by Lothian and Borders Fire Rescue Service and the Chief Fire Officers Association of Scotland to produce a major DVD project, as part of a Scotland-wide recruitment drive with a particular focus on equality and diversity issues. The project will involve filming across Scotland and will draw on GovEd's experience in bringing together high-end documentary film-making techniques with specialist public sector communications.
GovEd Communications and CarbonSense have released a demonstration web-based version of the Carbon Quilt visualisation tools. The prototype can be viewed at www.carbonquilt.org. For further information, please contact us.
GovEd Communications has been asked to produce a DVD celebrating the successes of its 'Supporting People Programme', which focuses on helping vulnerable people live more independent lives. The DVD will be launched at a special celebration event in October 2009, and will feature the stories of some of the thousands of people who have passed through the programme.
The portable Space Signpost has been featured as a key exhibit at the 2009 Science Picnic in Warsaw, run by the soon to be opened Kopernik Science Centre. A full-sized Space Signpost is also due to be installed at the Centre when it opens in 2010.
GovEd Communications' wide range of science and space education resources, services and offers will be featured on the Memory4Teachers USB sticks and website when they are launched on 17th May 2009. For further details, please see the Memory4Teachers page in our Projects section.
GovEd Technologies has launched a Live Carbon Monitoring version of LiVEPosters. The complete turnkey solution includes energy monitoring equipment which can take real-time data and display in terms of carbon emissions on the LiVPoster. See the Live Carbon Monitoring page for more details.
The Science Photo Library and GovEd Communications have formed a partnership to open up the entire SPL database of 300,000 images for use by schools through a simple subscription offer. See the SPL page in our Projects section for more details.
GovEd and Footagevault have announced a partnership to enable schools to access the entire Footagevault.com space footage archive for a nominal subscription fee. The project has been launched as part of GovEd's contribution to International Year of Astronomy and to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the first Apollo Moon Landings. Further details can be found on the Footagevault page in the Projects section of this website.
GovEd Technologies was invited to demonstrate LiVEPosters and Space Signpost to teachers at the Space Exploration Educators Conference 2009 in Leicester on 6th April 2009.
GovEd has been awarded a contract by JISC to provide 15,000 images for their Digital Images for Education Project. The images will be sourced from the Francesco Troina Collection and will be made available for use in teaching and learning materials and research projects in FE and HE.
GovEd Communications is working with the Downs School, Compton and West Berkshire Council on the design of new science laboratories.
GovEd Communications is extending its work in Space Education to coincide with International Year of Astronomy. In addition to existing curriculum, technology and outreach work in this area, GovEd is developing new partnerships and resources with leading space bodies, and is working with the STFC/SSAT-funded 'Leading Space Education' schools. Read more about our range of Space Education projects and resources.
LiVEPosters, LiVELinks and Space Signpost have received an excellent response from teachers, ICT staff and industry partners at BETT 2009. The newly-launched products from GovEd Technologies have been welcomed as a distinctive and original approach to using intuitive ICT for both teaching and learning and school communications. Watch the Teachers' TV interview with GovEd's managing director Ravi Kapur.
GovEd Technologies will be featured in the Teachers TV BETT Special programmes in January 2009. The channel will be filming new products at the GovEd stand (U75), inlcuding LiVEPosters, and the programme will be shown on air, online and around the BETT show itself.
GovEd Communications has been asked by the QCA to contribute to a series of consultations on the interim findings of the Rose Review of Primary Education. Following on from GovEd's extensive work on the Open Futures skills-based learning programme for primary schools, the GovEd team will make a particular contribution to considerations relating to enquiry-based learning and Philosophy for Children.
GovEd Communications has been engaged by Peckham Academy to produce a DVD about the school. The video package will be used for recruitment and promotional purposes. It will use a strong visual and narrative approach to capture the ethos and atmosphere of the Academy and will feature some of the unique vocational and skills-based learning facilities in the school.
GovEd Communications' has collaborated with the Ideas Foundation to produce animated and live action short films in conjunction with school pupils, as part of an education project linked to space tourist Richard Garriott. The films were screened at a special event at the House of Commons on 9th December 2008, with Richard Garriott in attendance.
GovEd Technologies' product range 'DigiPosters' has been renamed as 'LiVEPosters', to better reflect their unique ability to provide live feeds of data, imagery and information into the classroom. A new range of 'LiVEScreens' and 'LiVELinks' products have also been announced. See the Technology section for more details.
The latest re-vamp of the GovEd Communications website has gone live, featuring a new layout and navigation, and a more detailed Technology section. Further new features will be rolled-out in the first quarter of 2009, including an online order form for GovEd Technologies products, RSS feeds and blogs.
GovEd has produced a ten minute film featuring interviews with innovative members of staff from Milton Keynes Childrens' Services, to be shown at the start of the Woughton Review Conference in Milton Keynes on 6th November 2008.
GovEd has produced a ten minute film to kick-start the Harris Federation Conference on 24th October 2008, featuring interviews with staff and pupils from across the Federation's seven schools. In addition, GovEd will film the conference and produce an edited summary of the day's events.
GovEd Technologies (a division of GovEd Communications) has announced its products for BETT 2009, which include LiVEPosters (formerly 'DigiPosters') and a new, portable, USB version of Space Signpost. Details of a competition to win a LiVEPoster system are also announced.
A slight name change and a full re-branding have marked the re-launch of the Open Futures (now with an 's') initiative, following extensive strategy, scale-up and communications work conducted for the Helen Hamlyn Trust by GovEd Communications. A full 3-year scale-up strategy and new business model will be submitted to the Trust by GovEd later this month.
GovEd Communications will be a sponsor of the space industry conference 'Space 08' at the Barbican Centre in London on 4th September. This marks the initiation of a new series of projects currently under development by GovEd Communications focused on Space Education and Space Science Communication.
GovEd has taken Project Faraday into an international dimension through its appointment by Aitchison College in Lahore, Pakistan, following their review of the Project Faraday outputs. GovEd will provide a range of services including stakeholder consultation, curriculum and accomodation analysis, and an ICT review and will provide a detailed feasibility report and 'educational brief' for new science facilities at this prestigious school.
The first network of the innovative 'real-time' science education product DigiPosters, developed by GovEd Technologies, has been delivered to the King's School in Peterborough.
GovEd has been commissioned by University College London to reversion the youth-oriented science drama film 'Jeffrey's Story' as a series of short episodes to run on social-networking website Bebo. The series includes newly filmed material and short 'video blogs' (or 'vlogs') from the central character.
The Helen Hamlyn Trust has announced a partnerhsip with Wakefield local authority which has seen partcipation in the Open Future project nearly double, following strategic support form GovEd Communications.
The main output from the DCSF-funded Project Faraday exemplar design process has been published. GovEd Communications led one of the three consortia asked to conduct a root and branch review of school science facilities, lead an international research exercise and produce comprehensive architectural designs for exemplar science facilities. For more information about the project and how to download the publications, click here.
GovEd Communications has launched a new division called GovEd Technologies. This new area of the business will take forward the design, development, manufacture and sales of innovative, interactive education and public communication technology products. GovEd Technologies will also conduct research and development on new products and will design and develop web-based projects.
The Helen Hamlyn Trust has appointed GovEd Communications to conduct a comprehensive review of its flagship education programme 'Open Future', to develop a new financial model for the initiative, and to develop a mid- to long-term strategy for scale-up of the programme nationally. Open Future is a primary-focused initiative to provide a skills-based learning approach in schools.
The King's School in Peterborough, one of GovEd's partner schools on Project Faraday, has become the first Faraday school to order interactive products partly developed during the initiative. King's has ordered a network of DigiPosters and a portable Space Signpost. The school will begin its Faraday refurbishmnet building work later in 2008.
GovEd Communications has been prominently featured in a new Teachers' TV programme looking at the design of school science labs. The programme, 'Innovation - Science Labs of the Future', will be broadcast on the main Teachers' TV digital channel, but can also be viewed and downloaded from the Teachers TV website at www.teachers.tv/video/24717
GovEd Communications has been asked to partcipate in the 'Public Office' collaborative event with Kent County Council. The Public Office provides a unique collaborative opportunity for policy-makers, local authority and central government officials, and other stakeholders to partcipate in identifying opportunities to improve public service provision both locally and nationally.
When Teachers' TV decided to make a film about the new approaches to science education, they came to GovEd for advice. GovEd's experience with the Project Faraday (which involves the design of spaces for science and interactive science equipment) means that the company is at the cutting edge of science education. The film, which is currently in production, will feature members of the GovEd team as well as some of the designers which GovEd worked with on Project Faraday.
Thanks to the generosity our friends at ScienceScope, GovEd Communications gained valuable insight from teachers visiting the BETT show in Olympia. ScienceScope displayed an experiemental 'DigiPoster' on their stand, allowing GovEd to discuss potential uses for the new technology with teachers. GovEd's DigiPosters involve a unique combination of live and printed media. The research at BETT was encouraging, revealing much potential for the technology and enthusiasm from teachers.
The GovEd Communications website has been re-launched, with improved access to clips from GovEd's video projects.
The core research and design phase of the DCSF-funded Project Faraday has now drawn to a close with the submission of all architectural and interactive equipment design outputs. Further review and consultation work will be conducted in the first quarter of 2008, followed by publication of the main Project Faraday book and architectural design brochures. GovEd has a number of follow-up projects already in place to take forward the ideas and designs which have emerged from Project Faraday, and some Faraday schools will begin construction work later in 2008.
GovEd Communications has been asked to participate in an international consultation with leaders in education and industry, aimed at identifying the changing skills requirements of employers. The project is funded by Edexcel.
