£10m of UK government IoT funding lost in the machine | Internet of Business
In March 2015, the then UK chancellor George Osbourne announced the Internet of Things UK Research and Innovation Programme. The initiative was to be led by the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), with help from the Office for Life Sciences, Innovate UK and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).
An evaluation report from economic development consultancy SQW has found that unforeseen delays at the inception phase of several projects, largely due to changes to personnel implemented by the government in the DCMS, subsequent government decisions and further delays ‘in the field’, led to only £30m of funding actually being provided.