Space Horizons

This project just uploaded uses RSS and design skills of University of the West of England to create a space related educational news site. The RSS news page provides an automated update of space news, and there is also an events page and picture gallery.

Space Horizons - http://www.cems.uwe.ac.uk/amrc/JANS/spacehorizons/ - Space Horizons is a project that aims to deliver ideas on space and any other related information. Based in the South-West of England, Space Horizons also promotes the idea of space tourism which we are very much involved with. It's the place to be for any space related news, events and information in the South West of England! - Information Technology Management for Business - Year 2.

Space Horizons - UWE - JANS Student Group Project

Project Summary

For this project, we will provide a web environment to explain the business and economics of space, enable improved collaboration amongst space companies and OEMs (Original Engineering Manufacturers). This will help promote and develop the UK's space capability. There are growing opportunities for UK space industry in space tourism, moon and mars missions, satellites, and robotic missions. This project will build on the team members' extensive experience in decision support modelling and visualisation, especially within the aerospace industry. Our strategy is to make available the kind of systems we developed for aerospace companies' internal decision support systems to all industry, organisations and the public. Our partners for this are the West of England Aerospace Forum (WEAF) http://www.weaf.co.uk/ who will be allowing us to extract, visualise and extend the interactivity of their aerospace company network information. We will build an environment where individuals and companies can create their own models. The initial focus is on the space domain, though the techniques will be applicable to any domain. We will enable a wide range of people to create models as well as linking to and visualising server based models. The means to achieve this is provision of freely available, web-based, visual model creation tools that require the minimum possible code writing expertise from end-users. For the complex, interdependent space sector, simplicity of communication and access is essential.

The primary aim for this feasibility study is to establish a method to represent complex models and information in a way that is interactive, accessible and understandable by a wide range of users. This will enable space (and aerospace) industries in the SW region to access relevant information rapidly, and ensure efficient economic interactions throughout the supply chain. The focus for this system will be on using ICT to achieve a long-term aim of providing cheaper and more efficient space transport and so aid the development of this sector of the UK aerospace industry. This will be enabled by the capture and distribution of engineering knowledge for the space transport sector in a novel, and constructionist, 'e-science' environment. There are two main strands to this research:

• modelling of the economics of the space industry using web based technology


• enabling organisations and the non-specialist to model problems, by creating a system that employs end-user programming.

A further objective will be to establish a forum for involvement of aerospace companies, organisations, and the public in furthering collaborative space expertise and investment. The space industry will be used as a test vehicle, though it is clear that this approach could be employed in many areas, including industrial, educational, scientific and business sectors. This feasibility study will enable validation of our approach prior to the application of modelling techniques to these other sectors.

The digital technologies used and the subject area of the space industry are economic opposites. Web software especially is a market where comparatively little acquisition investment is required. Space at present requires massive investment so there is a tendency towards monopoly/oligopoly. Though economic theory tells us that monopoly leads to abnormal profits, this is only sometimes the case with space efforts, this depends on the engineering and scientific difficulty, production techniques and the project aims scientific/commercial. Where the aims are mainly scientific, public money is usually required, through government led agencies, though suppliers may make profits. Simpler and clearer modelling would help to reduce space investment and operational costs. User driven programming assists in increasing the value of workers in relation to ICT, an aim of the World Bank Working Paper (Zhen-Wei Qiang et al., 2004). Thus, it addresses two areas of skill shortage, which are hampering the UK economy, and slowing growth.

Zhen-Wei Qiang C, Pitt A, Ayers S, 2004. Zhen-Wei Qiang C, Pitt A, Ayers S, 2004, Contribution of Information and Communication Technologies to Growth.