Member Article

Loughborough University Shortlisted for UK IT Industry Awards

Loughborough University has been shortlisted in the Best use of Cloud Services category having deployed Arkivum/100 and Figshare for institutions

Chippenham, Wiltshire, 25th August 2015 – Arkivum, the provider of ultra-safe and secure, long-term, large-scale digital data storage and archive services is delighted to announce that one of its customers, Loughborough University, has been shortlisted for the UK IT Industry Awards 2015, Best use of Cloud Services category. Loughborough University entered the awards based on the innovative project it has undertaken with both Arkivum and Figshare.

The project was centred around the need to provide Loughborough researchers with a mechanism for archiving research data that met the requirements mandated by funding bodies for long-term open access and discovery. The solution is a tight integration between the managed cloud-based Arkivum/100 data archiving service from Arkivum and the cloud-based data discovery and sharing service from Figshare for institutions. Arkivum and Figshare devised the collaborative solution to provide Loughborough with a long-term research data archiving and discovery system as part of a campus-wide initiative.

The UK IT Industry Awards 2015 benchmark outstanding performance throughout the UK computer industry and focus on the contribution of individuals, projects, organisations and technologies that have excelled in the use, development and deployment of IT in the past 12 months.

Being shortlisted for one of these prestigious awards from Computing and BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, is a major boost for Loughborough University, Arkivum and Figshare.

The full shortlist announcement can be seen on the UK IT Industry Awards website but other companies that have been shortlisted in the Best use of Cloud Services category include:

National Rail Enquiries and Content Guru British Gas, Environments as a Service on the Cloud Confused.com, Azure Migration National Institute of Health Research University of Dundee and Box

“We’re delighted that Loughborough University has been shortlisted for this award”, said Steve Mackey, VP of Sales for Education at Arkivum. “This is a highly innovative project and by working in collaboration with Figshare we have helped Loughborough University not only meet quite stringent new funding body mandates around the long-term open access requirements for research data, but Loughborough has helped make academic research more efficient by providing a user-friendly system for researchers. It is clear that taking the initiative and being innovative in designing and building solutions has far-reaching consequences for institutional visibility and kudos – and the university is now seen as a visionary innovator – an excellent place to be.”

In terms of next steps, Loughborough University together with Arkivum and Figshare will submit finalist information on 8th September and have been invited to present at a Finalist Judging Day in Reading on 25th September. Winners are then announced at a Prestigious Awards Dinner and Ceremony on 18th November 2015.

To read the full case study and find out how Loughborough University deployed Arkivum/100 please visit www.arkivum.com.

- Ends -

Notes to Editors

About Loughborough University

Loughborough University is one of the UK’s leading research institutions with an international reputation for producing research that matters. Loughborough University is located in the market town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, in the East Midlands. Today it is one of the country’s leading universities, with a reputation for excellence in teaching and research, strong links with business and industry and unrivalled sporting achievement. That Loughborough now boasts an internationally known and respected university is largely due to the entrepreneurial vision and determination of Dr Herbert Schofield, Principal of Loughborough College for 35 years.

About Figshare

Figshare is the research data management platform used by the world’s leading researchers, institutions and publishers. Founded by Dr Mark Hahnel in 2011 who, whilst studying for his PhD in stem cell biology at Imperial College, London became frustrated at not being able to publish all his scientific research. The platform allows any file format to be made visualisable in the browser so that figures, datasets, media, papers, posters, presentations and filesets can be disseminated in a way that the traditional scholarly publishing model does not allow. Figshare is a portfolio company of Digital Science. For more information, visit figshare.com and www.digital-science.com.

About Arkivum

Arkivum is an innovative, fast growing data archiving provider, specialising in delivering long-term archiving solutions with unique bit level preservation and an unrivalled 100% data integrity guarantee. Formed as a spin-out from the University of Southampton IT Innovation Centre, Arkivum’s technology experience and expertise is fundamental in enabling it to ensure core solutions meet the needs of its customers.

Since its formation in 2011, Arkivum has grown steadily, boasting 300% growth in 2014 and the same expected for 2015. Arkivum provides archiving solutions to 1 in 3 of the top 60 universities in the UK, but its business growth is not only within the higher education sector. The need to retain and provide access to large volumes of data for many years to come is also paramount in other sectors too, such as healthcare, lifesciences, heritage and culture. For more information, visit www.arkivum.com

Media contacts:

Paula Elliott

C8 Consulting

paula@c8consulting.co.uk

0118 949 7736

Tom Hindle

C8 Consulting

tom.hindle@c8consulting.co.uk

0118 949 7763

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Nik Stanbridge .