What is the RCUK Digital Economy Theme?

The Research Councils UK Digital Economy Theme is supporting research to rapidly realise the transformational impact of digital technologies on aspects of community life, cultural experiences, future society, and the economy. To achieve this we bring together a unique community of researchers (from diverse disciplines including social science, engineering, computer science, the arts and medical research) and users (people, business, government) to study, understand and find solutions to real problems. Since its inception in 2008 the RCUK Digital Economy Theme has invested £120m (2008-11) in:

• training a new generation of digital researchers [CDT centres] ,
• a joint project with the Indian Government, led by the University of Ulster, to bring online education and healthcare to remote area of the UK and India
• new research, led by the University of Oxford, to create a ‘digital hospital’ with the aim of dramatically improving patient care, save lives, time and money
• VoiceYourView, led by Lancaster University, to help make public spaces safer by facilitating the collection of spontaneous observations from the public.

EPSRC leads the RCUK Digital Economy Theme on behalf of all seven Research Councils. The Research Councils collectively invest around £3bn each year in research spanning all academic disciplines and are non-departmental public bodies funded by the UK Government through the Department for Universities, Innovation and Skills.