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NETWORK / 34 / MARCH 2018 INNOVATION W hen asked to give advice to anyone thinking of applying for NIC funding, Ollie Machan has plenty. "It sounds obvious but read and understand the governance. Make sure you've got a clear problem definition and that you're proposing sound industry changing innovation, not pushing at invention," he tells Network. "If it feels like a sales pitch, or like Dragons' Den then you're probably on the wrong track – you want to be confi - dently explaining how you've de-risked a major advancement that you're fully up to speed with. Moon shots are fine, but it's all about the implementable outputs – be ready to explain to any customer why their invest - ment in the project would prove worthwhile to them." This is exactly what helped SGN, the company responsible for managing the network that distributes natural and green gas to 5.9 million homes and businesses across Scotland and the south of England, secure £6.3m of funding. "We were thrilled to be awarded the full funding, the culmination of two plus years of team effort along with a busy summer during the bidding process and which builds on our three previous successful NIC bids," remarked Machan. He continued: "The NIC mechanism is structured and well documented with a fairly fixed governance process. Once Robotics in action SGN is the company behind a Robotic Roadwork and Excavation System (RRES) which was awarded £6.3 million of funding from Ofgem's Network Innovation Competition (NIC) in November last year. Alec Peachey caught up with Ollie Machan, innovation and new technology project manager, to find out more. you've found something you want to take forward it's worth making sure that you have enough evidence and documen - tation to support the bid. If the idea has come through NIA, which they o'en do, then you'll probably have matured the concept to a point that the NIC funding is needed. The initial screening proforma (or ISP) is the first opportunity to regis - ter your intention to submit a bid proposal for that year, usually in March. It's a high- level concept brief that gives Ofgem the opportunity to check the bid will conform to the NIC funding criteria. Once the ISP is accepted, it's time to gather all the evidence you have and put it together for the full submission." The RRES will be used to safely and effectively excavate system could be utilised by other utilities. "A key feature of RRES is that we're demonstrat - ing technologies that could in future be utilised beyond the gas network, by other utilities. The robotic and AI technologies we're going to be trialling on a small scale now could be fur - ther developed and adapted for use by the electricity and water industry in future for example." Tangible benefits So what benefits does the system bring from both an economic, environmental and technological perspec- tive? "From a consumer per- spective, benefits of £26.08m are forecast over the RIIO- GD2 period. With regard to social and environmental cost savings, the implementation on both distribution and local transmission system pipelines, and then carry out operations on that infrastructure. It will combine sensing, machine vision and precision robotics with artificial intelligence, all of which means the system should be able to function on its own until it has completed its work. According to Machan, the "A key feature of RRES is that we're demonstrating technologies that could in future be utilised beyond the gas network."