“aquaculture smart and open data analytics as a service” · “aquaculture smart and open data...
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Grant Agreement: 644715
“Aquaculture Smart and Open Data Analytics as a Service”
Deliverable D1.2
Project Plan
Authorised by: Reviewed by: Reviewed by:
Steven Davy Matjaž Rihtar João Sarraipa TSSG JSI Uninova
Authorised date: _02_/_06_/_15_
Work package: WP1 – Project Management
Prepared By/Enquiries To:
Gary McManus ([email protected]) – Waterford Institute of
Technology
Tom Flynn ( [email protected] ) – Q-Validus Limited
Reviewers: João Sarraipa ( [email protected] ) – Uninova
Matjaž Rihtar ( [email protected] ) – JSI
Status: TOC
Date: 30/05/2015
Version: 1.0
Classification: Public
Project Plan D1.2
Public Deliverable
2
Disclaimer:
This document reflects only authors’ views. Every effort is made to ensure that all statements and information contained
herein are accurate. However, the Partners accept no liability for any error or omission in the same. EC is not liable for any
use that may be done of the information contained therein.
© Copyright in the document remains vested in the Project Partners.
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AquaSmart Project Profile
Partners
WATERFORD INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
(TSSG) COORDINATOR IRELAND
INTERGRATED INFORMATION SYSTEMS (I2S)
GREECE
UNINOVA - INSTITUTO DE DESENVOLVIMENTO
DE NOVAS TECNOLOGIAS (UNINOVA) PORTUGAL
GRAMMOS S.A. (GRAMMOS) GREECE
ARDAG COOPERATIVE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY
LTD (ARDAG) ISRAEL
NIORDSEAS SL (ANDROMEDA) SPAIN
Q-VALIDUS LIMITED (Q-VALIDUS) IRELAND
INSTITUT JOZEF STEFAN (JSI) SLOVENIA
ICT-15-2014: Big data and Open Data Innovation and take-up
H2020-ICT-2014-1
Contract No.: H2020-ICT-644715
Acronym: AquaSmart
Title: Aquaculture Smart and Open Data Analytics as a Service.
URL: www.Aquasmartdata.com, .org, .eu
Twitter @AquaSmartData
LinkedIn Group AquaSmartData
Facebook Page www.facebook.com/Aquasmartdata
Start Date: 02/02/2015
Duration: 24 months
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PROJECT PARTNER CONTACT INFORMATION
WATERFORD INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY. ArcLabs Research & Innovation Building, WIT, West Campus, Carriganore, Co. Waterford, Rep. of Ireland. T: +353 51 302920 E: [email protected] http://www.tssg.org
INTEGRATED INFORMATION SYSTEMS SA. Mitropoleos 43, Metropolis Centre, 15122 Marousi, Athens, Greece. T: +30 210 8063287 E: [email protected] http://www.aqua-manager.com
INSTITUTO DE DESENVOLVIMENTO DE NOVAS TECNOLOGIAS. Quinta da Torre, 2829-516 Caparica, Portugal. T: +351 212948527 E: [email protected] / [email protected] http://www.cts.uninova.pt/group_C2_objetives
GRAMMOS.
Ag. Apostolon & Pargas 2, 46100, Igoumenitsa, Greece. T: +30 26650 29231 E: [email protected] http://www.grammos-sa.gr/
ARDAG. Ashdod Farm: Ashdod Port, Israel. Main Office: North Shore, Po.B. 1742, 88116, Israel. T: +972-8-6303200 E: [email protected] [email protected] http://www.ardag.co.il
ANDROMEDA IBERICA ANDROMEDA GROUP. C/ Zinc s/n, Parque Empresarial Carabona. Spain. T: +34 964 587 068 E: AquaSmart @andromedagroup.es http://www.andromedagroup.es
Q-VALIDUS LIMITED. NexusUCD, Blocks 9 & 10, Belfield Office Park , University College Dublin, Belfield. Dublin 4, Ireland. T: +353 1 716 5428 E: [email protected] http://www.q-validus.com
JOŽEF STEFAN INSTITUTE. Jamova cesta 39, SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenija. T: +386 1 477 33 77 E: [email protected] http://www.ailab.ijs.si
AquaSmart is co-funded by the European Commission - Agreement Number 644715 (H2020 Programme)
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Document Control
This deliverable is the responsibility of the Work Package Leader. It is subject to internal review and formal authorisation procedures in line with ISO 9001 international quality standard procedures.
Version Date Author(s) Change Details
0.1 24/02/15 Tom Flynn (Q-Validus) Table of Contents.
0.2 03/03/15 Tom Flynn (Q-Validus)
Gary McManus. (WIT)
Table of Contents updated. Updated TOC post
internal review.
0.3 10/03/15 Tom Flynn (Q-Validus)
Gary McManus (WIT)
1st draft release.
0.4 15/05/15 Gary McManus (WIT) 2nd draft release – full document ready for review.
0.5 16/05/15 Tom Flynn (Q-Validus) Updated release.
0.6 29/05/15 Gary McManus (WIT) Updated based on review comments (Ready for QA).
1.0 30/05/15 Tom Flynn (Q-Validus) Final QA and Release.
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Executive Summary
Objectives:
Management have adopted a policy of openness and total transparency into how the Consortium
operates regarding to the management of the project. In this vein of vision the aim of this
deliverable is to describe our overall project management plan and operations rules.
The deliverable is divided into 7 main sections, each covering a specific area of operational target in
the management of the project:
1. PROJECT OPERATING PROCEDURES.
2. RISK POLICY AND MANAGEMENT.
3. CONFLICT RESOLUTION.
4. IPR MANAGEMENT AND PUBLICITY.
5. TECHNOLOGY AND MARKET WATCH.
6. GENDER ANALYSIS.
7. KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS.
Results:
The main result of this deliverable is a clear definition of the management and quality procedures for
the project. It acts as a vehicle for steering the project forward and aid communications and
understanding between the partners as work is implemented.
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Table of Contents
1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................. 11
2 ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS ................................................................................. 12
3 PROJECT OPERATING PROCEDURES ............................................................................... 13
3.1 Project Implementation........................................................................................ 13
3.1.1 Project Work Packages ............................................................................................... 13
3.1.2 Deliverables and Schedules........................................................................................ 15
3.1.3 Project Duration ......................................................................................................... 16
3.1.4 Project Budget ............................................................................................................ 16
3.1.5 Overall Project Schedule ............................................................................................ 17
3.1.6 Periodic Reporting ...................................................................................................... 17
3.1.7 Review Meetings ........................................................................................................ 18
3.2 Project management structure ............................................................................. 18
3.2.1 Project Coordination .................................................................................................. 19
3.2.2 Project Management Team ....................................................................................... 19
3.2.3 Technical Committee ................................................................................................. 21
3.2.4 Quality Management ................................................................................................. 21
3.2.5 Innovation Management ........................................................................................... 21
3.2.6 Exploitation Management.......................................................................................... 22
3.2.7 Work Package Leaders ............................................................................................... 22
3.2.8 Experts Panel Engagement ........................................................................................ 23
3.3 Information Management .................................................................................... 23
3.3.1 Technical Information ................................................................................................ 23
3.3.2 Economic Information – Cost reporting ..................................................................... 24
3.3.3 Innovation Information .............................................................................................. 24
3.4 Project Internal Procedures .................................................................................. 25
3.4.1 Meeting and arrangements ....................................................................................... 25
3.4.2 Email Communication Lists ........................................................................................ 26
3.4.3 Instant Messaging ...................................................................................................... 26
3.4.4 Website ...................................................................................................................... 26
3.4.5 Configuration Management, Development Technologies and Software Control ..... 26
3.4.6 Deliverable Preparation Rules ................................................................................... 27
4 RISK POLICY AND MANAGEMENT .................................................................................. 29
4.1 Risk Management Plan ......................................................................................... 29
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4.1.1 Implementation ......................................................................................................... 30
5 CONFLICT RESOLUTION .................................................................................................. 32
5.1 Amendments to the Agreement ........................................................................... 32
6 IPR MANAGEMENT AND PUBLICITY ............................................................................... 34
6.1 Access Rights ........................................................................................................ 34
6.2 Publications .......................................................................................................... 34
6.3 Brochure / Factsheet ............................................................................................ 34
6.4 Web sites .............................................................................................................. 34
6.5 Social Media ......................................................................................................... 34
7 TECHNOLOGY AND MARKET WATCH ............................................................................. 36
8 GENDER ANALYSIS ......................................................................................................... 37
9 KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS ................................................................................... 39
10 CONCLUSIONS ................................................................................................................ 42
11 REFERENCES ................................................................................................................... 43
12 APPENDICES ................................................................................................................... 44
12.1 Quality Assurance ................................................................................................. 44
12.1.1 Definition of Standard formats and Naming Conventions ........................................ 44
12.1.2 Documentation Version Control ................................................................................ 44
12.1.3 Existing Document and PowerPoint Templates ......................................................... 45
12.1.4 File Locations .............................................................................................................. 45
12.1.5 Folder Indexes ............................................................................................................ 45
12.1.6 Document Retention and Auditable Records ............................................................ 46
12.1.7 Access to Documentation .......................................................................................... 46
12.1.8 Tools Used and Facilities ............................................................................................ 46
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TABLE OF FIGURES
Figure 1: WP Structure Overview ........................................................................................................................... 14
Figure 2: Project management Office .................................................................................................................... 18
Figure 3: Current Female/Male Participation ........................................................................................................ 38
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LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: List of AquaSmart Deliverables ................................................................................................................ 15
Table 2: Project Budget Distribution ...................................................................................................................... 17
Table 3: Project Time Schedule .............................................................................................................................. 17
Table 4: WP leaders list .......................................................................................................................................... 23
Table 5: Reporting Periods ..................................................................................................................................... 24
Table 6: Plenary Meeting Schedule ........................................................................................................................ 26
Table 7: AquaSmart Email Lists .............................................................................................................................. 26
Table 8: Processes applied for risk management .................................................................................................. 30
Table 9: Social Media Channels .............................................................................................................................. 35
Table 10: Document Version Control ..................................................................................................................... 44
Table 11: Folder References ................................................................................................................................... 46
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1 INTRODUCTION
This deliverable is aimed at presenting the management and administrative procedures to all
partners and it includes quality and risk implementation procedures. The deliverable builds on from
both the Grant Agreement and Consortium Agreement procedures and defines practical
implementation approaches.
The initial version of the deliverable will be release in April 2015 (M3 of the project) and is treated as
a ‘living document’. It will be formally updated at M12 and informally on needs be basis throughout
the full duration of the project.
Constructive comments for the improvement of the Project Plan and the method for managing the
project are always welcomed. Please contact the Project Coordinator initially by email:
Steven Davy, Research Unit Manager 3MT.
Waterford Institute of Technology (WIT)
Telecommunications Software & Systems Group (TSSG).
ArcLabs Research & Innovation Building,
WIT, West Campus, Carriganore, Co. Waterford,
Ireland.
W: http://www.tssg.org
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2 ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS
Abbreviation Description
CA: Consortium Agreement.
ISO9001: International Quality Assurance Standard.
KPI: Key Performance Indicators.
NDA: Non-Disclosure Agreement.
PM: Project Coordinator (Project Manager).
PMB: Project Management Board.
RAM: Responsibility Assignment Matrix.
Redmine: Redmine is a flexible project management web application. http://www.redmine.org/
TOC: Table of Contents.
WP: Work Package.
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3 PROJECT OPERATING PROCEDURES
AquaSmart addresses the problem of global knowledge access, seamless data exchanges and data
reuse between aquaculture companies and related stakeholders. The AquaSmart mission is driven
by a business need of European aquaculture companies. Fish farm companies presently have
business objectives that they cannot achieve, which is due to the lack of instruments that would
enable them to manage and access to global knowledge and big data, in a multi-lingual and cross-
border setting. Experienced research institutes, with complementary expertise and technology,
engaging with European aquaculture companies aim to provide a platform that helps to address the
business objectives. Data collected in the AquaSmart platform may be open cloud based data and is
focused on enhancing the innovation capacity of the stakeholder and the wider aquaculture sector.
AquaSmart addresses the problem by facilitating and enabling global knowledge access and
seamless data exchange as well as data reuse between the aquaculture companies and related
stakeholders. The integration of new knowledge and technology transfer is realised by experienced
research institutes working in tandem with the end user stakeholders in the project. The facility
provided by the AquaSmart multi-lingual adaptive eTraining program, assures that fish farming staff
members receive the appropriate training. This helps to ensure the effective transfer of the
AquaSmart functionalities and capabilities.
3.1 Project Implementation
The sub-section defines the project structure and supporting procedures for the implementation of
the project.
AquaSmart is an innovative project with a balance of industrial and technology institutional
partners. It requires a project structure that enables the inter-disciplinary and collaboration skills of
the partners to flourish under controlled conditions and in line with what is expected from an EC
funded project. The partners involved in the project are from different disciplines. AquaSmart deals
with large data volumes and multilingual semantically interoperable data assets for real knowledge
acquisition, each of which leads to their own challenges. An agile approach for the development of
the platform was chosen and the applied structure of the Project Office (see Figure 2 below) is
designed to enable that approach to flourish within the boundary rules of the European Commission.
The approach is based on considerable market and business experience in international IT projects
by our partner, I2S, in collaboration with the Coordinating Partners. It has been agreed by our
partners in the project and is built around an understanding of both the market and technical
problems of the End Users and with a goal of successful project implementation.
3.1.1 Project Work Packages
The project will be implemented using a framework of six work packages, comprising of 3
management/outreach work packages and 3 complementary technical work packages. Their inter-
dependencies are highlighted in the following illustration.
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Figure 1: WP Structure Overview
WP1 is the ‘Project Management’ workpackage and centres on the efficient and effective project
management, which will lead to the timely submission of deliverables and reports, including a report
of gender performance at the end of the project. WP5 is responsible for ‘Stakeholder Engagements
and Dissemination’. It focuses on targeting specific project information details to potential
customers and interested parties within industry, standardization groups and the research
community. This feeds into WP6, which is responsible for the ‘Market Deployment and
Commercialisation’ tasks in the project. It will deliver a fully exploitable Business plan as part of the
Market Deployment Strategy document for business and stakeholder interest.
Part of the ‘technical work packages’ group, WP2 (‘Open Cloud Data Platform’), focuses on the
technology specification, design and development of the open cloud data platform concept. It
involves a number of tasks that are responsible for the overall architecture and multilingual
development of individual platform components. Outputs from WP2 will be the software artefacts
that can store the data belonging to the End Users in an open and transparent format, which will
also be used in the data analytics components to help answers the End-Users business queries. WP3
‘Multi-lingual Training and Learning Platform’ focuses on the specification, design and development
of tools that are to be used by the End-Users, to:
i) learn how to prepare their data for storage and processing in the platform of WP2, and
ii) train how to use the open cloud data platform to best answer their Aquaculture value chain
business queries.
Outputs from WP2 are integrated with WP3 components and collectively are the artefacts that are
to be trialled and validated by the End Users in WP4. Our WP4 ‘Trials and Validation’ work package
focuses on the use and deployment of the software artefacts developed in WP2 and WP3 as well as
the service provision approach ingrained into WP6. The trials essentially offer End-Users the ability
to investigate how the AquaSmart platform can be used in practice to benefit their business.
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3.1.2 Deliverables and Schedules
The Table below provides an overview of the deliverables that are due, delivery details,
dissemination level as well as the work package and partner that responsible for the deliverable.
Del. No.
Deliverable name Wp No.
Type Diss. level
Delivery Responsible Partner Date
D1.1 Management, Innovation & Reports 1
WP1 R CO M12 WIT
D1.2 Project Plan WP1 R PU M4 WIT
D1.3 Data Management Plan 1
WP1 R CO M6 WIT
D1.4 Management, Innovation & Reports 2
WP1 R CO M24 WIT
D1.5 Data Management Plan 2
WP1 R CO M12 WIT
D1.6 Data Management Plan 2
WP1 R CO M18 WIT
D1.7 Data Management Plan 4
CO M24 WIT
D2.1 Development and technology transfer methodology.
WP2 R CO M2 WIT
D2.2 System architecture. WP2 R PU M6 WIT
D2.3 Data analytics in aquaculture.
WP2 R PU M12 JSI
D2.4 Key metrics tools for aquaculture.
WP2 R CO M6 WIT
D2.5 Technology engineering release 1.
WP2 R CO M12 WIT
D2.6 Technology engineering release 2.
CO M24 WIT
D3.1 Training Policy, training programmes and training material 1
WP3 R PU M12 UNINOVA
D3.2 Impact of training session reports 1.
WP3 R PU M20 Q-VAL
D3.3 On-line training portal. WP3 OTHER PU M15 UNINOVA
D3.4 Impact of training session reports 2.
WP3 R PU M24 Q-VAL
D3.5 Training Policy, training programmes and training material 2
WP3
PU M24 UNINOVA
D4.1 Trial End User readiness report.
WP4 R PU M15 UNINOVA
D4.2 Trial verification report - iterative 1.
WP4 R PU M20 I2S
D4.3 Trial verification report - iterative 2.
WP4 R PU M24 I2S
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D5.1 Dissemination material, project website, social media 1.
WP5 DEC PU M3 I2S
D5.2 Dissemination Plan. WP5 R CO M3 Q-VAL
D5.3 Industrial and business showcase.
WP5 DEC PU M22 I2S
D5.4 Draft Big Data CEN standard.
WP5 OTHER PU M12 Q-VAL
D5.5 Dissemination material, project website, social media 2.
WP5 DEC PU M12 I2S
D5.6 Dissemination material, project website, social media + activities 3.
WP5 R PU M18 I2S
D5.7 Dissemination Plan 2. WP5 R CO M12 Q-VAL
D5.8 Draft Big Data CEN standard 2
WP5 R PU M24 Q-VAL
D6.1 Market deployment strategy.
WP6 R CO M22 I2S
D6.2 Exploitation pipeline report.
WP6 R CO M22 I2S
D6.3 Stakeholder maintenance management report.
WP6 R CO M22 I2S
D6.4 Market deployment strategy 2.
WP6 R CO M24 I2S
Table 1: List of AquaSmart Deliverables
3.1.3 Project Duration
The project starts on 2nd February, 2015 and is due to end 24 months later on 1st February, 2017.
3.1.4 Project Budget
The estimated eligible costs for this project action are EUR 3,109,077.50 (three million one hundred and nine thousand seventy seven EURO and fifty eurocents). This grant reimburses 100% of the eligible costs of the beneficiaries that are non-profit legal entities and 70% of the eligible costs of the beneficiaries that are profit legal entities and the ‘maximum grant amount’ for the project is EUR 2,717,432.37 (two million seven hundred and seventeen thousand four hundred and thirty two EURO and thirty seven eurocents). The base budget and distribution between the project partners are detailed in the Grant Agreement document and summarized as follows:
Direct Personnel
Cost
Direct Subcontracting
Cost
Direct Other Costs
Indirect Costs
Total Costs Reimbursement Rate
Max EU Contribution
Max Grant Amount
TSSG 600,000 0 45,000 161,250 806,250 100% 806,250 806,250
I2S 300,300 0 18,000 79,575 397,875 70% 278,513 278,513
UNIN 465,625 25,000 58,000 130,906 679,531 100% 679,531 679,531
GRAM 85,250 0 9,500 23,688 118,438 70% 82,906 82,906
ARDG 111,430 0 9,500 30,233 151,163 70% 105,814 105,814
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ANDR 77,907 0 9,500 21,852 109,259 70% 76,481 76,481
QVAL 405,000 0 18,000 105,750 528,750 70% 370,125 370,125
JSI 236,250 0 18,000 63,563 317,813 100% 317,813 317,813
Total: 2,281,762 25,000 185,500 616,816 3,109,078
2,717,432 2,717,432
Table 2: Project Budget Distribution
For a detailed breakdown of the project budget breakdown and the associated EC payment rules
please refer to the Grant Agreement (Chapter 3).
3.1.5 Overall Project Schedule
Table 3: Project Time Schedule
3.1.6 Periodic Reporting
The project is divided into the following ‘reporting periods’:
RP1: from month 1 to month 12.
RP2: from month 13 to the last month of the project (month 24).
It is the responsibility of the Project Coordinator, along with the support of the partners, to submit a periodic report within 60 days following the end of each reporting period (M12, M24). Included in these reports will be:
a technical overview of the work carried out in the reporting period,
an overview of progress towards the project objectives,
as well as a financial report for the reporting period.
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Periodic reporting procedures will adhere to the guidelines provided by the EC in the Grant Agreement.
3.1.7 Review Meetings
As a means of reviewing the work carried out for each reporting period, the Project Coordinator will
make the necessary arrangements for the mandatory mid-term and final review meetings by the
European Commission services. These will be held following month 12 and month 24 (or latter if the
end of the project is past month 24. Review procedures will adhere to the EU guidelines.
3.2 Project management structure
Led by WIT-TSSG, AquaSmart is a project with a balance of industrial and technology institutional
partners. Thus, the management structure requires an approach that will foster collaboration skills
and allow partners to flourish. The Project Office (see Figure 2 below) was designed specifically with
this in mind. As previously mentioned, the approach chosen is based on the considerable
experiences of partners involved in international projects involving multi-disciplinary participants. It
is built around an understanding of both the market and technical problems of the End Users and
with a goal of successful implementation. The management of quality, risk and mitigation, finance
distribution, conflict resolution and IPR are paramount to the project. Management structure and
supporting procedures (briefly outlined below) takes particular account of these issues throughout
the project life-cycle. Transparency, good communications and concise consistent messaging is a key
attribute to our approach for the effective management of the project. This is achieved working
through the effective implement of standards and procedures under the realm of the Project Office
base, which is illustrated as follows:
Figure 2: Project management Office
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The project management structure has been formed to allow for a tightly focused project enabling
close interaction and numerous interfaces in the decision making process.
3.2.1 Project Coordination
Our Project Coordinator is Dr. Steven Davy, WIT-TSSG, who acts as the liaison officer when dealing
with and addressing issues reported by the Commission’s Project Officer. He will also chair the
Project Management Board (PMB), which is the ultimate decision body of the consortium. The
Technical Management Committee (TMC) is chaired by Dr. Kostas Seferis, CTO (I2S), our Innovation
Manager, with responsibilities for all technical deliverables. Any proposed changes and work plan
revisions initiated by the TMC must have the approval of the PMB. An external Experts Panel assists
the work of the TMC and the PMB. A dual communication process with the panel will be established
to aid targeted exploitation efforts and PMB decision making support. The PMB consists of 1 senior
representative from each Partner in the Consortium that is authorized to make decisions on their
organizations behalf to avoid any unnecessary delays. Each Board member has a single equal vote
with the majority decision being carried. Conflict resolution procedures (Section 5) will apply when
deemed appropriate.
The Project Coordinator will perform the important tasks outlined below that are required for the
effective implementation of the project, including:
Manage the consortium in a manner that is ‘proactive’ and not ‘blocking’, to derive the best
results;
Manage the process of IPR and Consortium agreements;
Manage coordination and communication between the different Management & Outreach
WPs and the Technical WPs;
Act as liaison between the consortium and the EC;
Ensure that all project deliverables are prepared on schedule; (See Deliverable Preparation
Rules );
Address all administrative matters, including organisation and chairing of project meetings;
Issue the authorization signature of quality management reviews, where deemed
appropriate and holds reserve for internal 3rd party additional reviews;
Monitor the overall budget of the project;
Monitor timesheets vs deliverables, income and expense plan execution;
Manage and distribute partner payments and all cost associated with the project;
Submit deliverables, periodical reports and cost statements to the Commission and assist
with any queries.
3.2.2 Project Management Team
The Project Coordinator will chair the Project Management Board (PMB), which is the ultimate
decision body of the consortium. The PMB will consist of 1 senior representative from each Partner
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in the Consortium that is authorized to make decisions on their organizations behalf to avoid any
unnecessary delays. Each Board member has a single equal vote with the majority decision being
carried.
The following tasks which will be addressed by the PMB and will lead towards the effective
implementation of this project:
Providing ongoing strategic steps for effective:
o Exploitation.
o Intellectual Property Management.
o Standards.
o Dissemination and communication activities (Google analytic and Social Monitor
reports incorporated into the process).
Ensuring that the progress is maintained according to the Project (Work) Plan.
Reviewing overall technical programme, results, deliverables and financial status.
Reviewing and approve the regular risk assessment and mitigation steps.
Resolving disputes between participants not resolved at lower decision levels.
Assessing gender issues and reallocates budgets, if necessary and deemed appropriate.
Meeting with and seeking advice and support of the Experts Panel re: implementation, reuse
data capture suitable to other sectors, market and technical watch and exploitation.
The PMB will physically meet every six months, as well as via teleconferencing every month, to
monitor and direct the progress of the project. In the case one partner is unable to participate a
PMB meeting, this partner will be represented by the Project Coordinator and every second meeting
of the PMB will be co-located with a project review (if possible). All decisions of the PMB are binding
for the project.
The project management team consists of the roles as described in the sections below and the
following table provides an overview of this organization.
Role Person Organization
Project Coordinator Dr. Steven Davy. WIT-TSSG.
TMC Chairperson Dr. Kostas Seferis. I2S.
Quality Manager Tom Flynn. Q-Validus.
Innovation Manager Dr. Kostas Seferis. I2S.
Exploitation Manager Dr. Kostas Seferis. I2S.
WP1 Leader Dr. Steven Davy. WIT-TSSG.
WP2 Leader John McLaughlin. WIT-TSSG.
WP3 Leader Dr. João Sarraipa. Uninova.
WP4 Leader Dionysia Michanou. I2S.
WP5 Leader Tom Flynn. Q-Validus.
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WP6 Leader Dr. Kostas Seferis. I2S.
3.2.3 Technical Committee
The Technical Management Committee (TMC) for the project is chaired by Dr. Kostas Seferis, CTO
(I2S), our Innovation Manager, and this team will have responsibility for the technical oversight and
delivery of the project. The TMC will track all technical work in the project and where proposed
changes and work plan revisions need to be initiated by the TMC, the approval of the PMB must be
obtained before they can continue. The following tasks are under the responsibility of the TMC and
will lead towards the effective implementation for this project:
Support the Project Coordinator towards the technical delivery of the project;
Monitoring and control of the progress of the individual WPs;
Organise external workshops to attract new users for early take up of project results;
Facilitate the smooth technical and managerial running of the project based upon the
principles of partner inclusion and even distribution of workload and responsibilities;
Organise of technical meetings (every three months alternating between face-to-face and
teleconferencing);
Liaise with the Quality Manager on the assurance of all deliverables to standards defined in
the Quality Plan and compliant to procedures.
The TMC will meet three times a year and will be supported in running the project by an external
Experts Panel.
3.2.4 Quality Management
The Quality Manager, Tom Flynn (QVAL), will support each team member to provide good quality
deliverables and provide direct support in particular to the Innovation Manager, Project Coordinator
and the WP Leaders. The quality plan, described in this document, defines the procedures for the
quality control in the project. The role of the Quality Manager is to ensure that this quality plan is
adhered to and also to work in a proactive manner to provide support and assistance where deemed
necessary to help ensure efficiency and effectiveness of the implementation, communications and
deliverables, bearing in mind the levels of experiences, skills, background and disciplines that each
member of the partners brings to the project.
3.2.5 Innovation Management
The role of the Innovation Manager in the project is to promote the development and integration of
innovative themes in the project, including the innovative development of end user propositions and
responding rapidly to end users’ requirements in line with the project objectives. The role involves
influencing the main stakeholders and underpins customer ideation. This includes articulating these
ideas into compelling thought-pieces with clear recommendations. The role involves leading the
innovation pipeline (from TRL1 stage, to proposition development, to customer testing and though
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to TRL5). It involves close cooperation with the Project Coordinator and the stakeholders for the
preparation and facilitating of workshops, capturing and distributing the output, as well as assessing
any commercial implications towards making recommendations to the PMB. As part of this role, the
Innovation Manager will, with the consortium partners, routinely review the project innovations
with a view to agreeing the need to have invention disclosure forms completed (IDFs) from their
team members. These will be held for regular review during the project (at 6 monthly intervals) from
which decisions will be made on the most appropriate process to protect the IP on the most
promising disclosures to allow for appropriate dissemination and future exploitation.
3.2.6 Exploitation Management
The Exploitation Manager will lead in facilitating the commercial exploitation of the project’s
results, including communications, dissemination and exploitation. Dr. Kostas Seferis (CEO, I2S) is
the Exploitation Manager. Kostas has a very successful track record of commercialisation. It was
Kostas who engaged with the end users in order to fulfil this niche in the market. The Exploitation
Manager will oversee the project’s external business message communication strategy and most
importantly, ensure that the integrity of any emerging intellectual property is not compromised
through imprudent public disclosure. The Exploitation Manager works across all partners in this
capacity to develop the Business Plan (part of D6.1) and will drive forward the project into the
exploitation pipelines. The Exploitation Manager will communicate the market position through
commercial intelligence and networking and will work closely with Tom Flynn (WP5 Leader,
QValidus).
3.2.7 Work Package Leaders
Work Package leaders (Table 4) have the responsibility of planning and coordinating the technical
work within their respective WP. They are also responsible for monitoring progress and quality
assurance of tasks within their WP, and do so in conjunction with the Quality Manager. Each WP
Leader is also responsible for inter-WP liaison where there are dependencies or relations between
work packages. In addition to the WP leader, each task also has a leader who reports to the relevant
WP leader. Daily work is carried out at each level (i.e. Task or WP) and needs some degree of
freedom to facilitate effective decision-making, which will overall be properly coordinated with the
Project Coordinator. The WP Leader list is:
WP Title Responsible Partner WP Leader
1 Project Management. TSSG Steven Davy.
2 Open Cloud Data Platform. TSSG John McLaughlin.
3 Multi-Lingual Training Platform. UNINOVA Ricardo Jardim-Gonçalves.
4 End User Trials and Validations. I2S Dionysia MIchanou.
5 Stakeholder Engagements and Dissemination.
QVALIDUS Tom Flynn.
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6 Market Deployment and Commercialisation.
I2S Kostas Seferis.
Table 4: WP leaders list
3.2.8 Experts Panel Engagement
Collectively as a unit, the consortium will be supported by 5 business, entrepreneurial and
technically commercial experts from the field of Aquaculture, Transportation, Big Data and
Agriculture. These will form an Experts Panel to provide valuable insights and contributions for
requirements to other sector needs, as well as for market and new business opportunities. This
Panel includes:
Dr. Ing. Stefano Mainero, EPN Consulting (CEO and Panel chair),
Dr. Nikos Papandroulakis (Research Director) Institute of Marine Biology, Biotechnology and
Aquaculture,
Dr. Simone Braun (Innovation & Business Design Manager) CAS Software AG.,
Dr. Espen Kon (CEO) EKON Modeling Software Systems and
Mr. Richard Flynn (Irish Farmers Association).
The role of the Experts Panel in AquaSmart is to:
advise on requirements issues with a view for take up of the platform beyond the life of the
project;
advise on the exploitation opportunities in wide geographical locations;
communicate about the content of the AquaSmart framework to potential external end
users and business influencers;
advise on the further exploitation of the results.
The panel will provide advice on the reuse data to capture for other sectors and will also provide
their expertise towards the market and technical watch. Panel members will be invited to attend
plenary meetings, and other meetings, where deemed appropriate, which will coincide with relevant
conferences. The inputs from the Experts Panel will form an integral part of the strategic
proceedings with our stakeholders; they will play an active role in promoting the interest of the
stakeholders to channel business and new revenue streams.
3.3 Information Management
3.3.1 Technical Information
In order to document the results in an efficient way, the following steps will be followed:
1. The WP Leader formally reports on progress, achievements of specific deliverables, risk
implementation and innovation management to the Technical Management Committee
meetings, which are held every 6 months. The WP Leader will report on:
WP objective for the period.
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Work progress over the time period covered (including meetings & teleconferences).
Deliverable achievements.
Risk implementation and management thereof issues.
Innovation management implementation (if appropriate).
Slippage (if any) and reasons thereof with corrective action details applied and a list
of other Deliverables affected as a result.
2. The Project Coordinator, Innovation Manager, Exploitation Manager and the Quality
Manager will receive the report and state of progress before deciding on the course of
action and the remedial action to be taken.
3. The Deliverables Register Master Controller, which is a tracker mechanism to track progress
with regards to document editing, reviewing and submission dates for all deliverables in the
project, will be updated accordingly. The overall deliverable process is described in Section
3.4.6.
3.3.2 Economic Information – Cost reporting
On an annual basis, each partner will provide the Project Coordinator a basis economic report with a
signed Form C, within 10 days of each of the periodic reporting due dates. On a 3 month basis, the
Project Coordinator will request updates of the economic reports in order to streamline in the
process and assess the development of the project against the expected achievements. This
approach is also designed to reduce the likelihood of unforeseen issues arising late in the process.
Period 1 Periodic Reporting
01/02/2016 02/02/2015 – 01/02/2016
01/02/2017 02/02/2016 – 01/02/2017 (or end of project)
Table 5: Reporting Periods
The Project Coordinator will require the following financial information from the partners:
Cost statement.
Signed Form C.
Signed Audit Certification (if required).
3.3.3 Innovation Information
Innovation involves the whole process in AquaSmart from the opportunity identification in proposal
submission, the research and knowledge transfer and exchanged amongst our end users and
technological professionals, iterative dataset development and prototyping right through to our
marketing and exploitation. Overall, it involves the management of all activities related to
understanding needs, with the objective of successfully identifying new ideas, and managing them,
in order to develop new products and services which satisfy these needs. Our innovation
management starts at the point of capturing the creative works and finishes it when a product or
service is deployed. We monitor innovation development and progress at months 12 & 18 (MS1). As
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outlined above (3.3.1), each WP Leader formally reports to the Technical Management Committee.
However, it is the Innovation Manager (Kostas Seferis, I2S) who engages with both the end users and
the technological professionals to advance the ideas, concepts across the key work packages (i.e.
WP2, WP3 and WP4) and reports progress to the PMB and TMC in our management meetings. The
Project Coordinator, as point of contact with the Project Officer of the European Commission, will
deliver our periodical Data Management Plans (D1.6) in line with planned delivery milestones.
3.4 Project Internal Procedures
3.4.1 Meeting and arrangements
The project will hold 3-4 project meetings per year at various suitable locations, preferably
associated with partner sites.
Each meeting will encompass several different types of meeting (i.e. Board, Technical, and Plenary)
in consecutive sessions in order to save as much on travel expenses as possible. These meetings will
cover all the work of the project and will include a review of progress in each work package/task and
detailed planning of the future direction of the project.
Interim technical meetings will be held as required within specific work packages. These will be
organised by the leaders of the work packages and tasks involved. In normal circumstances, full use
will be made of technology to support cooperative working and minimise travel time. This will
include wider use of e-mail, web and conferencing tools, regular progress reporting from all partners
to the Project Coordinator, and the distribution of the consolidated reports back from the Project
Coordinator to all partners.
Details will be exchanged between partners working in the same area through regular e-mail contact
and during work package meetings. Details will be also exchanged between partners working in
different work packages, again by e-mail and project and technical meetings.
The Project Management Board will normally meet physically every 6 months and these meetings
will be held in conjunction with Plenary Consortium or Technical meetings. Regular audio
conferences will be used to monitor project progress and to progress technical discussions. Meeting
minutes will be stored in the appropriate location on the project Dropbox folder.
The current plan for the consortium face-to-face plenary meetings is outlined in the table below. (Please note that these may change due to venue availability or the occurrence of relevant conferences that can be used to
host meetings in parallel)
ID Event Dates Venue Partner
1 Kick-off plenary 18-20 February 2015 Lisbon. UNINOVA
2 Plenary #2 7-9 July 2015 Igoumenitsa. Grammos
4 Plenary #3 Nov-15 Dublin. Q-VAL
5 Review #1 Feb-16 Luxembourg. EC
6 Plenary #5 May-16 Waterford. WIT-TSSG
7 Plenary #6 Sep-16 Spain - to be specified. Andromeda
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8 Plenary #7 Dec-16 TBC. TBC
9 Review #2 Feb-17 Luxembourg EC
Table 6: Plenary Meeting Schedule
3.4.2 Email Communication Lists
A number of email lists have been created for the AquaSmart project, as listed below.
Email Address Description
[email protected] All project members and contributors.
[email protected] The Project Management Board.
[email protected] All WP1 members, for discussion of WP1 related topics.
[email protected] All WP2 members, for discussion of WP2 related topics.
[email protected] All WP3 members, for discussion of WP3 related topics.
[email protected] All WP4 members, for discussion of WP4 related topics.
[email protected] All WP5 members, for discussion of WP5 related topics.
[email protected] All WP6 members, for discussion of WP6 related topics.
Table 7: AquaSmart Email Lists
3.4.3 Instant Messaging
Skype is the Instant Messaging tool that is currently being used by the AquaSmart project.
Download Skype from http://www.skype.com.
3.4.4 Website
The projects public website can be found at http://www.aquasmartdata.eu (.org , .com).
3.4.5 Configuration Management, Development Technologies and Software Control
For further details and usage guides for the technologies chosen for the project please refer to
AquaSmart deliverable D2.1 (Development and Technology Transfer Methodology). In this document
we describe, amongst others the:
Development Methodology.
Software Management.
Software Version Control.
Testing.
3.4.5.1 Development Methodologies
The development process for Aquasmart will follow the agile methodology. While there are many
different agile methods, most attempt to foster teamwork, collaboration and process adaptability
throughout the lifetime of the project. Throughout the process, the focus remains on satisfying
customer requirements and the rapid delivery of useful software – in terms of weeks rather than
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months. These features make it ideal for the AquaSmart project development. More in depth details
on the specifics of this approach with regards to AquaSmart can be found in the AquaSmart
deliverable D2.1 (Development and Technology Transfer Methodology).
3.4.5.2 Software Management
Redmine is an open source project management web application that has been adopted by the
project for managing and tracking the technical development work over the project lifetime. It uses
a concept known as “trackers” to create, assign, and track progress on specified tasks, and through
its web interface partners can get an up to the minute view of project specific tasks and their
progress. An overview of the process is outlined in the AquaSmart deliverable D1.2 (Development
and Technology Transfer Methodology).
3.4.5.3 Software version Control
A Git repository has been chosen as the version control system for the software development
process in the Aquasmart project. For further details on how to use the Aquasmart Git repo please
refer to the “How to Use Git” wiki page on the AquaSmart Redmine application [1].
3.4.5.4 Testing
There are several levels of testing in the project:
i) Unit Testing.
ii) Integration Testing.
iii) System testing.
iv) Acceptance testing
Each level is outlined in the AquaSmart deliverable D2.1 (Development and Technology Transfer
Methodology).
3.4.6 Deliverable Preparation Rules
Deliverable (Dn.n) preparation planning starts as soon as the related WP and task/tasks commences.
Deliverables are produced in line with the defined quality management procedure (Appendices),
which is based on the principals of ISO9001. To promote transparency and good communications, a
Deliverables Register Master Controller file is updated on a weekly basis. Based on the project plan,
each deliverable is the result of the research from the implementation of a task. It is the
responsibility of the Task Leader to work with the Work Package Leader to identify appropriate
internal reviewers for each deliverable at least 1 month prior to the deliverable date and outline
when they are expected to review a deliverable. It is also up to the WP Leader and Task Leader to
assign sections of the deliverable to relevant partners, where their knowledge expertise will benefit
the deliverable. When the deliverable is ready for review, the Task Leader must email it to the
reviewers at least two weeks prior to the deliverable date.
Reviewers must revert with comments/sign off within three days of receipt, and final sign off of the
deliverable must occur at least one week prior to the deliverable date.
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The deliverable preparation process is outlined as follows:
1. The responsible person(s) for the deliverable generates the Table of Content (TOC) and
sends it to the corresponding reviewers (i.e. 2 persons) of the deliverable for its review and
subsequent approval by the deliverables’ accountable person.
2. The Quality Manager through consultation with the Innovation Manager assigns the
reviewers deemed most appropriate to effectively undertake the review process.
3. Reviews are implemented in line with the criteria defined in the Deliverables Register
Master Controller file.
4. The responsible person(s) assign sections of the deliverable to the appropriate partners
where their knowledge and expertise can be brought to good effect.
5. It is the responsibility of the deliverable owner to collate all inputs into a master document
prior to sending for review.
6. The responsible person(s) for the deliverable issues the initial draft electronically (‘Track
Changes’ is on) to the reviewers for prompt feedback (within 3 days of receipt) and the
Deliverables Register Master Controller file is updated accordingly.
7. Comments/suggestions for improvement are captured by email and/or within the document
itself.
8. Responsible partners integrate the improvements in the document and the Quality Manager
supports this process in cases where fundamental disagreements occur.
9. Steps (4-8) may be repeated.
10. Once the Reviewers verify the content and approve the deliverable, it is formally issued to
the Authorised Authority (i.e. the Accountable person) and the Quality Manager for formal
quality assessment and final deliverable approval. It is possible that a repeat of Step 4-8 is
warranted.
11. The Project Coordinator sends the deliverable to the European Commission Project Officer
within the Git repository deadline set in the DoW, given approval of the Deliverable.
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4 RISK POLICY AND MANAGEMENT
A project risk is an event or uncertain condition that if it occurs, will have an effect on at least one
project objective, such as time, cost, scope or quality. Risks have their origins in the uncertainty that
is present in all the projects and can be of different topology. Known risks are those that have been
identified and analysed and it is possible to plan the actions to take if they happen. Unknown risks
cannot be managed proactively and a prudent response of the project team could be to assign a
general contingency against it. The management approach to risk containment and contingency is
important for the success of the project and therefore, AquaSmart adopts mechanisms to identify
and resolve potential risks. The PMB will continuously monitor the project outcomes against the
defined milestones, considering the critical paths that exist. Our risk management flow is composed
by the following processes:
Risk Management Plan: Consists of defining how to perform the activities of risk
management for a project.
Identify Risks: Determine the risks that may affect the project and documenting their
characteristics
Identify quantitative and qualitative analysis: On the one hand we prioritize risks for further
analysis or action by assessing and combining their probability of occurrence and impact of
those risks. On the other, we numerically analyse the effect of the identified risks on the
overall project objectives.
Planning Risk Response: This consists of implementing response actions against the risks. A
tracking of the monitored risks is performed, residual risks are monitored, new risks are
identified and the effectiveness of the process is evaluated against risks.
4.1 Risk Management Plan
PMBOK (Project Management Body of Knowledge) is a fundamental guide towards project
management and is a widely recognized standard in the management and administration of
projects. One of the principles of PMBOK is that the knowledge to manage the project and risks lie in
the practitioners and academics that apply and develop the project. Taking this into account, the
AquaSmart management team have set out the basic plans for risk management throughout the
project and in doing so have identified 4 pillars that fit with the risk safeguarding of this project:
Identification of the risks.
Qualitative analysis of the risks.
Planning the risk response.
Monitoring and controlling the risks.
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Id. Process Description Tools Execution time
1. Identification of
the risks
Identify risks that may affect
the project and its
characteristics and note the
WP(s) affected.
Participant knowledge
of the project and list
of risks.
At the beginning of the
project and at each
meeting of the project
team.
2. Qualitative
analysis of the
risks.
Assess the likelihood and
impact of the risk.
Definition of
probability and impact.
Severity levels: low,
medium, high.
At the beginning of the
project and at each
meeting of the project
team.
3. Planning risk
response.
Define the risk response. Decision tree. At the beginning of the
project and at each
meeting of the project
team.
4. Monitoring and
control the risks.
Verify the occurrence of risks
(including the emergence of
new ones).
Control and
monitoring meetings.
In each phase of the
project.
Table 8: Processes applied for risk management
4.1.1 Implementation
The identification of risks consists of determining what the risks are that may affect the project and
then documenting their characteristics. All project partners have to be involved in this risk
identification task. In addition to this identification task, regular reports will be generated that
ensure that the PMB is aware of potential problems on a consistent basis and can initiate
countermeasures long before a problem/situation becomes irreversible. The tight control, both at
WP Level and at Management level, ensures that solutions will be available in time. The potential
risks identified can be assessed based on the probability and level of (negative) impact and any risks
with a high probability and a severe impact will be handled with particular caution during the
project.
The following measures are foreseen to meet those risks:
1. During the first three months of the project, a risk assessment will take place aimed at
identifying potential risks and evaluate their impact and probability of occurrence.
2. For risks with medium to high probability and severe impact, countermeasures and contingency
plans will be decided and flagged throughout the execution of the project as “risk items”. This
ensures that these items will be handled very carefully throughout the project at Management,
WP and Task level.
3. For risks with low probability or low impact, the PMB will ensure that the necessary
countermeasures are taken and that the milestones concerning the evaluation for risk
treatment needs are identified.
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4. For risks that were not foreseen at the beginning of the project, the risk planning and evaluation
process will catch these and will be updated as needed.
5. Ethical and gender performance reviews are also integrated into our risk and mitigation
planning procedures.
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5 CONFLICT RESOLUTION
The PMB will work on the consensus principle in the interest of all partners. In the unlikely event that
consensus cannot be reached and a decision is necessary to ensure proper project progress, a simple
majority vote may take place. In this case, each partner will have one vote. In the case of a tie, the
Chairman's vote will be a casting vote. All decisions that can have an impact on progress will be
documented to provide full visibility and transparency within the Consortium. Any signs of
disagreement between partners should be notified to the WP Leader or the Project Coordinator (as
appropriate), who should then instigate the conflict resolution procedure. A Consortium Agreement
(CA) has been negotiated and agreed among the participants on the AquaSmart project where their
obligations and rights within the project have been defined. The CA covers all management issues,
the Intellectual Property (IP) aspects of the project and the protection of prior knowledge and access
rights. Decisions may be classified as follows:
On-going management of the project.
Review or amendment of the Work plan defined in this document, together with the
allocation of the funding provided by the Commission under the EC contract between the
parties; and
Review or amendment of the terms of the EC contract, the cost and time schedules under
the EC contract or the termination data of the EC contract.
Certain decisions may require the approval of the Commission. If partners do not fulfil their
obligations within the project, they will be cautioned by the consortium.
All means will be taken to resolve any conflict that might occur during the project by unanimous
decision of the consortium. However, if a unanimous decision cannot be reached within the
appropriate time, a decision process with a qualified majority vote will be applied via Work Package
Leaders. Details of the necessary majority and the competencies to make decisions have been
specified in the Consortium Agreement document (i.e. Section 6).
Separately, the inclusion of new partners is not anticipated. However, partners may withdraw from
the project and the process for selecting a new partner is presented in the Quality Management
section should the need arise.
5.1 Amendments to the Agreement
Handling of significant project changes and deviations must be dealt in writing. The participant or
Work Package Leader proposing the change should forward a written explanation, indicating the
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reason behind the proposed amendment and the consequences in terms of budget, work
programme, etc.
The written explanation should be forwarded to the Project Coordinator. As a general rule, all
participants should act as fast as possible when a need for a project change is observed.
The amendment request will be forward on behalf of the Consortium by the Project Coordinator to
the European Commission. Minor changes such as insignificant deviations from time schedule will be
dealt with in the immediate milestone period.
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6 IPR MANAGEMENT AND PUBLICITY
6.1 Access Rights
Specified in Section 9 of the ‘Consortium Agreement’ document are the defined access rights for
materials developed within this project. This includes access rights to software, platforms developed
and training materials, as this training material is a core output from the project Work Package 3.
The issue of access to data from the end users, as well as what can be carried out on this data will be
dealt with in a separate NDA document which will be signed by all parties involved.
6.2 Publications
The guideline for publications and related confidentiality issues are provided in the Consortium
Agreement - Section 8.3.1. Note that for pragmatic reasons in most cases it’s sufficient to announce
a publication when it is ready to be, or has been, submitted as the actual publication date in most
cases would still be at least 15 days ahead; however this bears the risk of the submitter that the
submission may have to be revoked in case an objection cannot be resolved. When preparing to
submit a publication, partners need to send a mail to the WP5 email list (notification of publication)
in the subject line. In addition, all publication materials will be stored in the WP5 folder in Dropbox.
6.3 Brochure / Factsheet
The project has produced a brochure and factsheet that will be used for dissemination at
appropriate events and will be updated periodically to reflect changes in the project
6.4 Web sites
The public website for the AquaSmart project can be found at http://www.aquasmartdata.eu (.org ,
.com). The website is based on the WordPress installation and is hosted in the WIT-TSSG data
centre. Access rights are defined in deliverable D5.2 and online presence is declared in same.
The commercial web site for AquaSmart is http://www.aquaknowhow.com. I2S will host this site
and will have exclusive rights to the platform on their site.
6.5 Social Media
The Exploitation Manager working in conjunction with the Quality Manager and the Project
Coordinator have exclusive rights to the projects web site and the social media channels and will
determine the appropriate ownership details as the project progresses in line with the dissemination
communication phased approach adopted (D5.2). AquaSmart will leverage the power of social media
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in order to communicate its results and disseminate the project’s outcomes as well as engage a
wider range of stakeholders by utilizing the following social media channels in the ways outlined in
the table below:
Social Media Channel Purpose
Twitter: A micro-blogging facility for project updates, related news, industry, press
releases, event and conference updates.
Facebook: Consumer and community oriented promotional page for the Expert Project
highlighting the values, benefits and opportunities provided by Aquaculture.
LinkedIn: To provide an online closed group to support and facilitate experts and partners
within the project with news, technical updates, milestones discussions etc.
YouTube: A channel deployed in order to provide practical demonstration news, interviews
and up-dates as a valuable cross-sectorial dissemination resource.
Slideshare: A channel that provides access to slide presentations that will facilitate the
sharing and viewing of project slideshows.
Flickr: A hub for the visual resources of the project and a valuable reference for
meetings, site visits and news.
Table 9: Social Media Channels
We regularly monitor progress, interest and to help us to gauge how our social media efforts are
working as part of the stakeholder engagement process.
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7 TECHNOLOGY AND MARKET WATCH
Our Exploitation Manager (Kostas Seferis, I2S) will monitor potential competitor movement that
might impact on the intended commercial outcomes for the AquaSmart platform. The undertaking
will embrace both technical and market watch and will involve engagement with all partners to
request their support in the process and inform the Exploitation Manager if they too become aware
of a market or technological swing that may have an impact on the AquaSmart.
Expert Panel members will also be contacted for their input and knowledge as part of the knowledge
transfer and engagement process with them. The latter will be addressed by emails or direct
communications (e.g. Skype calls, etc.) and a similar informal approach will be adopted for this task
by the project team members.
Channels and avenues that the Exploitation Manager will watch are:
YouTube.
Twitter.
LinkedIn.
News.
Conferences.
The Exploitation Manager will report Technology and Market Watch details at consortium meetings
unless critically urgent or important. In such case, a special focused meeting will be called and
implemented adopting a good common sense approach.
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8 GENDER ANALYSIS
AquaSmart link its activities to the Science and Society Action Plan and specifically to Action 24: to
support a European platform that brings together networks of women scientists and organisations
committed to gender equality in scientific research.
The AquaSmart consortium fully supports European efforts to improve gender balance in scientific
research and development. The consortium is led by Dr. Steven Davy (WIT-TSSG) and is made up of
8 partners, spanning 6 European nations and all scientific teams including strong representation of
female scientists and researchers as seen in the Grant Agreement.
Researchers within the consortium are fully aware of the distinction between gender (social/cultural
factors) and sex (biological factors) and supports gender diversity. In accordance with Horizon 2020
guidelines [2], the Consortium aims to ensure that gender balance and gender mainstreaming [3] are
central to the processes and practices of the Consortium. No inequalities or inequities are allowed to
exist within the project.
Individuals in the project, participate based on their professional merit and competence in order to
contribute to the successful outcomes and the business and environmental targets of the project.
Person-media interaction is to be appraised with possible gender aspects in terms of what gender is
more familiar with the usage of new technologies. Women are equally encouraged to participate in
the AquaSmart project and will hire younger female researchers for the project implementation
wherever possible in order to transfer knowledge from the experienced partners by:
encouraging women to apply for newly created research positions in AquaSmart;
ensuring that equal opportunities will be promoted in recruitment at all levels;
aiming to ensure good representation of women at all levels of the AquaSmart project
(science, communication/dissemination/exploitation and management);
Furthermore, participants in the research will also be selected with due consideration to gender,
along with other categories, in order to avoid data bias and be as plural and as representative of
society as possible. In addition to this, working conditions that make possible a family/work balance,
which does not impact negatively upon women, will be encouraged by the Consortium members,
following their national legislation and institutional guidelines. To this extent we will promote for a
more balanced workforce, as part of our dissemination activities. All advertisement for new research
positions to work with the project (if full or part) will declare that applications are chosen on an
equality opportunity basis regardless of gender and to be treated solely on the basis of their relevant
competence, merit and ability. A report on gender balance participation performance within the
Consortium will be presented to the Commission at the end of the project as part of the final project
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report. It is anticipated that the report will support the Commission regarding equality policies
decision making as well as interim reviews of the effective implementation of the Horizon 2020
framework programme. It will also include a section on the experience of the project regarding
ethics in the project as understood by the participants.
The following diagram figure represents the current female/male contribution across the project.
Figure 3: Current Female/Male Participation
M
F
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9 KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS
In order to measure progress during the project execution key performance indicators (KPI) have
been defined to monitor the objectives described in the Grant agreement - Description of Work. The
KPIs have been grouped to measure each general Objective and Specific and Operational Objectives,
consequently there will be 6 groups of KPIs. The indicators will be calculated on a six-monthly basis
and presented/commented on during each six monthly face to face Project Management Board
meetings.
Objective 1: MANAGE
Project Management &
Coordination (i.e. WP1)
To ensure the identification of challenges and stakes in the complexity, scale and
in the organizational structure for efficient decision-making.
To secure the allocation and coordination of all resources (human & financial) in
order to reach project objectives within the pre-defined contractual obligations
and timeframes.
Means of measurement:
Partner contact list including technical and financial.
Creation of common templates for the partners including reporting based on the official EC
reporting guidelines.
Tools in use for project management transparency and openness updated weekly and rolled
over on a six-month basis.
Organization of bi-weekly work package meetings, where deemed appropriate, monthly
management meetings as well as the consortium face-to-face meetings and any other
meetings required for the successful running of the project.
Coordination of the mid-term review meeting (M12) and the final review (M24).
Peer and separate Quality Manager Reviews for increased quality of the deliverables.
IPR and risk management agreements in place for the exploitation of knowledge and
tangible results.
Good communications and interaction with members of the Expert Panel.
Objective 2: DESIGN &
DEVELOPMENT
Open Cloud Data
Platform (i.e. WP2)
To define end user requirements, ontology and data analytics for the Aquaculture
industry.
To declare key metric tools for Aquaculture.
Means of measurement:
Detailed definition of technical requirements.
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Definition of project development environment.
Versioning system for source code.
Issue Tracking.
Definition of ontology, datasets, standards for the interfaces for the relevant components
and representation formats of data.
Definition of metrics tools.
Definition of the software release process.
Specification of the target environment.
Objective 3: TRAINING
Multi-lingual Training
Platform (i.e. WP3)
To develop a training framework for deployment of educational material in line
with Aqua cultural company’s needs and open policy.
To develop and make available multi-lingual training material.
Organise and deliver a set of courses to train users.
Means of measurement:
Definition of the training platform requirements.
Definition of a set of training guidelines.
Definition of the AquaSmart training strategy.
Training courses defined.
Training modules defined.
Training courses developed.
Target groups defined.
Training programmes defined.
Adaptable training contents service implementation.
Creation of training course templates.
Training platform installed.
Organization of three webinars.
Organization of the AquaSmart Forum.
Two Training Executions in a classroom basis for each course.
Coordination of the training execution plan between (M12) and (M24).
Number of trainees addressed through the platform or through specific classroom training
IPR agreements in place for the training contents exploitation.
Objective 4: TRIALS
End User Trials and
Validation (i.e. WP4)
To design and develop trials re: WP2 and WP3 delivery.
Validate business models.
Measure technical KPI defines in WP2.
Means of measurement:
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Definition of implementation environment.
Evaluation methodology and end user feedback.
Expert Panel feedback.
Carry out a number of Platform tests.
Incorporate a number of datasets (real data).
Objective 5:
DISSEMINATION
Stakeholder
Engagements &
Dissemination (i.e. WP5)
To disseminate appropriate results and project information in business
international conferences, national press, workshops and journals.
Engage and communicate using social media.
Engage with members of the Expert Panel.
Hold CEN standard agreement workshop.
Means of measurement:
Meetings with Expert Panel.
Meetings with standards bodies.
Social media engagement including followers (likes, views, retweets), blogs, direct emails,
You Tube followers and in channels (LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter).
Flyers/brochures distributed.
Recipients of newsletters.
Tracing of hits on the projects web site.
Delivering scientific and commercial focus papers.
Press releases published or features in traditional media.
Objective 6:
EXPLOITATION
Market Deployment and
Communication
(i.e. WP6)
Prove that the AquaSmart framework and platform is suitable for wider take up.
Lay down guidelines for all stakeholder partners to exploit AquaSmart in the
market.
Means of measurement:
Meetings with members of the Expert Panel.
Workshops organised by the project and the number of participants.
A contacts database has been built.
Meetings with interested companies.
Meetings with intermediaries (i.e. professional unions, universities, etc.), providers of
complementary producers and government organisations.
Agreements between the partners for further exploitation.
Commercial leads set up.
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10 CONCLUSIONS
This deliverable outlines the management and administrative procedures to collectively help and
individually guide partners with the operational processes for the implementation of the project.
The deliverable defines administrative practices, project management, quality and risk procedures
and references related documents, such as Consortium Agreements. This deliverable is a ‘living
document’ and will be updated on a needs be basis to help ensure effective delivery and
management of the project. In summary, this deliverables defines:
Administrative project management processes that ensure accurate financial reporting and
justification of the work being carried out.
Project management processes that ensure tight coordination of activities resulting in high
quality deliverables.
Communication strategy (internal) for the assurance of clear and effective communication
between the individual partners and that allows for the early escalation and the timely
resolution of management and technical issues.
Quality management and assurance.
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11 REFERENCES
[1] J. McLaughlin, “How to Use Git,” Aquasmart Project, 19th March 2015. [Online]. Available:
https://www.aquasmartdata.eu/redmine/projects/aquasmart/wiki/UsingGit. [Accessed 19th
March 2015].
[2] https://ec.europa.eu/programmes/horizon2020/sites/horizon2020/files/FactSheet_Gender_2.pdf
[3] The European Commission’s (2008) Manual for Gender Mainstreaming: Employment, social
inclusion and social protection policies.
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12 APPENDICES
12.1 Quality Assurance
12.1.1 Definition of Standard formats and Naming Conventions
AquaSmart adopts a simple naming convention that takes the following format:
1. “AquaSmart Dn.n”, which is in line with the Grant Agreement.
Work in progress document and all not contract documents in AquaSmart will take on a format that
is relevant for the context of use. Example variations:
2. AquaSmart <main author name> <ddmmyy> vn.n <file reference>
e.g.
AquaSmart Kostas 230215 v0.1 datasets list.doc (i.e. the initial draft).
AquaSmart John 300315 v1.0 brochure.doc (i.e. the approved release).
12.1.2 Documentation Version Control
Version of files will take on a logical numerical sequential flow starting from ‘0.1’ and moving
forward until and approved version is reached (i.e assigned ‘1.0’). Logical flow example follows:
ID Name Remark for the reader:
0.1 TOC
0.2 Initial draft
0.21 Minor corrects Typically spelling correct and/or minor correct of sentences or addition
sentences
0.3 Second draft
0.4 Advanced release Typically updated after internal peer review and revision.
0.n
1.0 Approved release Often the final version number
1.1 Some deliverables can have more than one iterative and maybe for
example due a second release after a milestone is reached in the project.
1.n
2.0 Second approved
release.
Table 10: Document Version Control
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The section ‘Document Control’, which forms part of each deliverable due under the Grant
Agreement, must correspond with the files version number.
12.1.3 Existing Document and PowerPoint Templates
Standard templates files have been produced for the project and are available in Dropbox. They
include:
AquaSmart Power Point presentations.
AquaSmart Documentation Template (i.e. this Deliverable uses it).
AquaSmart Minutes.
AquaSmart Logo images.
The above files are mandatory files for use in the project.
Additional files produced to support the team include administrative filed:
AquaSmart Timesheets.
AquaSmart Expenses sheet.
12.1.4 File Locations
The documents are files in the AquaSmart folder in Dropbox [Dropbox\AquaSmart\].
12.1.5 Folder Indexes
ID Folder Name Remark
0 0. Grant Agreement and DOW. Grant Agreement and Submitted proposal.
1 1. Commission Correspondences. Correspondence between project and the EC.
2 2. Contacts. Contact details for the project partners, Expert
Panel and the EC.
3 3. Meetings – Consortium. Meeting details and meeting minutes.
4 Deliberately left blank for later use in the project If deemed appropriate.
5 5. Consortium Templates Logo, Presentation,
Documentation.
Templates for the project.
6 6. WP1 - (Master) Project Management - Owner
WIT-TSSG.
Final WP1 documents.
7 7. WP2 - (Master) Open Cloud Data Platform -
Owner WIT-TSSG.
Final WP2 documents.
8 8. WP3 - (Master) Multi-lingual Training Platform Final WP3 documents.
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- Owner UNINOVA.
9 9. WP4 - (Master) End User Trials and Validation -
Owner I2S.
Final WP4 documents.
10 10. WP5 - (Master) Stakeholder Engagement and
Dissemination - Owner QValidus.
Final WP5 documents.
11 11. WP6 - (Master) Market Deployment and
Commercialisation - Owner I2S.
Final WP6 documents.
12 12. Catch all and Other documents. Miscellaneous documents.
13 13. Pictures. Pictures from events.
Table 11: Folder References
12.1.6 Document Retention and Auditable Records
Project documents are held in Dropbox. Records, including emails by all partners must be
maintained for technical audit requirements for at least 5 years after the project has completed. As
well as Dropbox, documents will be regularly archived to the WIT-TSSG servers for more long term
backups
12.1.7 Access to Documentation
Access to project documents stored in Dropbox will be through a sharing method, where folders
containing the documents will be shared with project participants as they join the project. The more
confidential end user data will be stored in the WIT-TSSG servers, and access will be on an
authentication basis. End users will have access to their own raw data, but no visibility of other end
users raw data. The data analysis partners will have access to all end users data. In order to facilitate
this and protect the end users an NDA document will be signed by all parties.
12.1.8 Tools Used and Facilities
WIT-TSSG use a spreadsheet control system to manage the deliverables, which lists the reviewers
and key quality assurance questions which must be signed off before the appropriate authority is in
a position to sign off. Furthermore, it displays on a per deliverable basis the status of each
deliverable regarding stage of the development and percentage completion percentage. The
spreadsheet is arranged on a six-month rolling basis. Managed by the Project Coordinator and
updated on a weekly basis (Friday) the spreadsheet is visible to all partners and participating
individuals. The policy of openness and total transparency is ingrained into how the Consortium
operates regarding to the management of the project.