Virtual meeting of the ESS ILO Network

Despite the pandemic, the ILO Network activities have continued with little to no interruptions. The meeting was divided into two parts.

Firstly, the ILO Network received an update from ESS Associate Director for Strategy - Sharon Cosgrove on the status of the ESS Project. The ILOs then retreated for a regular internal ILO meeting.

The second part of the day saw presentations from the In-Kind Contributions Management Team, update on the ENRIITC project, Procurement and Logistics status update, as well as a talk on ongoing innovation activities at ESS. Last but not the least, four ESS sub-projects, Accelerator, Neutron Scattering Systems (NSS), Integrated Controls Systems (ICS), and Target, updated the ILOs with the latest developments in their respective divisions, as well as with the upcoming procurement opportunities.

This was the first meeting chaired by Carol Watts, who comes from the United Kingdom, UK Research and Innovation. Carol has been voted as the new chair of the ILO Network in the ESS-ILO Network Meeting #14.

The meeting discussions were engaging, with a general feeling that the virtual environment did not massively hinder the engagement of participants. Many interesting points were raised, from procurement data and statistics, to excellent innovation opportunities that exist at ESS already today.

Overall, the meeting ended on a positive note, with a number of actions agreed between ESS and the ILOs. The next meeting has been provisionally set for March 2021, with an exact date to be agreed upon later in the year.