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The South East has a Gross Value Added (GVA) of £158 billion (approx $290 billion / €230 billion). This is similar to that of Norway and Austria. |
With a population of eight million and a workforce of 4.2 million, the South East is the largest region in the UK. |
Approximately 287,200 VAT registered enterprises are present in the South East, more than any other UK region. |
The South East is the largest exporter in the UK, with £29 billion (approx $52 billion / €41 billion) of goods moved in 2004. |
The labour force is highly educated with 90% of the working age population holding an academic qualification and over one third of the workforce holding a degree. |
Workers with good language skills are readily available in the region due to the truly international workforce of 585,000 people who were born outside of the UK. |
Around nine working days a year are lost per employee due to sickness, the lowest amount for a UK region. |
The region is home to 24 universities and higher education institutes, where nearly 200,000 study. This includes the University of Oxford, one of the most prestigious universities in the world. |
South East universities work very closely with business, with over 2800 research conracts won annually, higher than any other UK region. |
The region's 24 universities and higher education institutes supply over 73,000 graduates per annum. |
£4.66 billion (approx $3.06 billion / €2.43 billion) is spent on R&D annually, nearly one quarter of UK expenditure. |
South East organisations undertaking R&D employ 45,800 people, which is almost 25% of the UK R&D workforce. |
The South East has the highest number of patents granted in the UK. The statistics show that 820 patents, over 20% of the UK total were granted to firms based in the South East in 2004-5. |
There are 6,540 foreign-owned companies in the South East. |
With three international airports, 11 sea ports, 108 motorway junctions, 77 train stations and access to the Channel Tunnel, the South East has one of the most extensive transport infrastructures in Europe. |
Heathrow, the world's busiest international passenger airport, is home to over 90 airlines serving approximately 186 destinations. It handles over 67 million passengers and 1.3 million tonnes of freight each year. |
It takes 35 minutes to travel through the Channel Tunnel between the UK and mainland Europe. Most major towns in the South East are connected by rail to central London with a journey time of under an hour. |
Almost one third of the land in the South East (637,000 hectares) is designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), more than any other UK region. |
In 2004-5, the South East had the second lowest crime rate in England with 8,983 reported crimes per 100,000 people. |
94% of the South East population is in good or fairly good health, which is higher than any other UK region. |
Eurostar has set a record for the quickest train journey between Paris and London of just 2 hours, 3 minutes and 39 seconds, meaning a typical journey will take just over 2 hours when the line opens in November 2007. |
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| Oxford team in high-speed photographic breakthrough |
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15 February 2010
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Scientists in the South East have devised a new application which can create high-resolution pictures and video from events taking place at high speed.
The method, which works by combining existing technologies, was devised by a team from Oxford University and could yield applications across a range of industries and consumer markets, as well as within the high-tech scientific community.
Using a new photographic technique honed during the study of the human heart, Dr Peter Kohl and his team were able to create an animated model of the organ, which enables a view from all angles and at all layers.
This was achieved using powerful computers and advanced optical imaging tools in combination, enabling sharp pictures and video of a high-speed scene, as Dr Gil Bub, who devised the technique, explained.
"What's new about this is that the picture and video are captured at the same time on the same sensor," he said.
"This is done by allowing the camera's pixels to act as if they were part of tens, or even hundreds of individual cameras taking pictures in rapid succession during a single normal exposure.
"The trick is that the pattern of pixel exposures keeps the high-resolution content of the overall image, which can then be used as-is, to form a regular high-res picture, or be decoded into a high-speed movie."
Dr Kohl said the technique provided the kind of high-quality pictures and video which would normally require sophisticated apparatus costing tens of thousands of pounds.
"Anyone who has ever tried to take photographs or video of a high-speed scene, like football or motor racing, even with a fairly decent digital SLR, will know that it's very difficult to get a sharp image because the movement causes blurring," he commented.
"This will be a great tool for us and the rest of the research community and could also be used in a number of other ways that are useful to industry and consumers," he added.
Applications of the new technique could include everything from CCTV to sports photography, while the scientific imaging sector is also interested in the technology.
The research, which was published in Nature Methods, was developed thanks to funding by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council and the British Heart Foundation.
The technology has now been patented by Isis Innovation, the University of Oxford's technology transfer office, which is also now looking for contact from industry partners to take the technology to market.
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