The Future Power System Architecture (FPSA) project was commissioned by the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (formerly Department of Energy & Climate Change) and undertaken through a collaboration between the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) and the Energy Systems Catapult. The collaboration built upon a shared commitment to respond effectively to the challenges presented by the energy trilemma: decarbonisation, security of supply and affordability.
Mapsar was commissioned by the Energy Systems Catapult to join a multi-disciplinary team of experts, providing knowledge area consultancy to inform the functionality and evidence base. Focus areas included the importance of communities in driving system transformation and the need for a whole-system architecture to support change. The final project report is playing a central role in promoting the importance of whole system thinking in architecting the energy system.
“Mapsar played a key role in building a robust evidence base in support of the customer and community driven functions identified by the FPSA project, and also in helping to keep the project focused on the central need to ensure built-in flexibility to enable ongoing change.”
Eric Brown
The Get Digital Faster programme is investing around £15 million of public and private funding to increase the coverage of fibre-based infrastructure capable of delivering superfast broadband across Greater Manchester to support its ambition to be a world-leading digital region.
Mapsar provided market and technical advice to the Greater Manchester local authorities in the development of the infrastructure strategy, supported applications for UK and European funding and acted as Technical Lead for procurement. Throughout the deployment, Mapsar ensured compliance with state aid requirements, overseeing data analysis and technical assurance to ensure compatibility with funding requirements and milestone delivery.
“Mapsar’s advice and support was instrumental in the success of Get Digital Faster, providing a rare combination of strategic oversight and attention to practical detail throughout the full lifecycle of the programme.”
Ian Birleson
As a critical element of its growth strategy, Zentek Solutions, an innovative provider of educational ICT solutions and services, needed to become an approved supplier on the Department for Education’s Framework for ICT Services.
Working closely with the CEO and senior management, Mapsar managed the development of a bid from pre-qualification questionnaire (PQQ) response to tender, to successfully secure a listing for Zentek Solutions as a government approved supplier of ICT solutions to educational establishments. The value of Zentek’s status as a Framework supplier underpinned the subsequent sale of the business.
“Mapsar’s support was instrumental in enabling Zentek to secure a place on the framework, working closely with me and the management team, articulating complex and innovative business propositions in a clear way, and providing value added consultancy to steer the evolving architecture of the business.”
Zulf Ali
The European-funded Future Internet Public Private Partnership (FI-PPP) programme sought to develop a view of future requirements that could be supported by developments in Internet-based technologies.
Mapsar worked with the European Utilities Telecom Council (EUTC) to lead a work package as part of the Future Internet for Smart Energy (FINSENY) project within the FI-PPP programme. The objective was to understand the regulatory barriers and enablers across Europe to a range of smart energy futures such as distribution network automation, microgrids, smart buildings, electric vehicles and retail market developments. This work highlighted the importance of whole-system architecture in supporting the transformation to a customer-centric energy system with more distributed control.
“The regulatory work package involved getting to grips with a wide range of technical and regulatory issues. This required effective engagement with a large number of stakeholders, and the work was conduced throughout with a clear focus on the delivery of a thorough and rigorous final report. Mapsar was a key player in EUTC delivering on this element of the FINSENY project. The output was first class and at the request of DGINFSO at the European Commission, EUTC and Mapsar produced a customised report for publication which identified key findings.”
Peter Moray
Quintel, a provider of innovative base station antenna solutions for the telecommunications industry, needed to identify optimal geographic markets to support the company’s growth ambitions. Mapsar analysed the global market potential for Quintel’s existing product portfolio, developing a methodology to prioritise geographic regions and maximise the return on sales and marketing effort. The findings were used to inform Quintel in its evaluation and deliberations for growing its business into a number of new global markets.
“Mapsar coupled the ability to understand our strategic business challenge with an appreciation of the technology capability and a thorough detailed approach to building an analysis model to enable us to develop global expansion targets with confidence”.
Dave Barker