As the SKA project moves through the design, development, construction and operational stages, industry will play a crucial role in the delivery and through-life support of the technologies and infrastructure. The scale of the SKA and the inherent requirement to ‘productise’ many of its components necessitates the engagement of industry at levels only beginning to be seen for radio-astronomy in projects such as the ALMA instrument, and the LOFAR pathfinder.
View the Industry Engagement Strategy. Note: This document is formative, and aims to describe the anticipated approach for industry (and other stakeholder) engagement with the SKA project, and the SKA Organisation. The strategies and policies expressed in this document are yet to be formally approved by the Board of the SKA Organisation, particularly in relation to sections 10, 11 and 12. The SKA Office acknowledges the advice of industry in the development of this document.
Industry participation with the SKA means early collaborations with a variety of organisations, among them niche R&D companies, followed by increasing engagement through commercial contracts with high-volume manufacturers, technology systems vendors, site services and installation firms, and power and data transmission specialists. Engagement will necessarily occur with larger technology and civil engineering firms, and is also encouraged with smaller local vendors, possibly including teaming arrangements and supply chains.
The SKA Industry Engagement Strategy spans the SKA project technology and infrastructure needs to around 2017 and beyond, covering the period when SKA project will invite industry involvement in the vicinity of € 1.2 billion of funded procurements.
The international SKA project, and its associated national and regional consortia programs, welcomes interest from existing and potential industry partners.
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Links to industry partners (Important note: the following list is by no means exhaustive and the content of the listed websites is the entire responsibility of the authors and doesn’t necessarily reflect the official view of the SKA Organisation):
- Canada: CyberSKA Project Blog
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