Imperial College London and Huawei open data science innovation lab

by EBR

Imperial College London and Huawei, a global ICT solutions provider, announced they are to collaborate and jointly-invest on a data science lab. The Imperial College - Huawei Data Science Innovation Laboratory, as it is called, will bring together experts from across Imperial’s faculties and Huawei researchers to harness data science research and develop new applications in fields such as smart cities, energy and healthcare.

The data science lab is the first major corporate partnership within Imperial’s new Data Science Institute, which will cultivate multidisciplinary collaborations between the College's academic experts and research partners to develop new big data technologies. Huawei will invest in cutting-edge equipment including next-generation cloud computing servers, a research and innovation fund, and operational costs for the new lab. 

The announcement of the lab follows the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between Huawei and Imperial in July 2013, under which both parties agreed to look at opportunities for collaboration. Imperial College is a global institution with unrivalled knowledge in the field of data science innovation. The collaboration is part of Huawei’s global investment in innovation and research and development. .

UK’s Universities and Science Minister David Willetts MP welcomed the collaboration between Imperial and Huawei: “Science and research are major contributors to the UK economy and our Universities are central to ensuring that we have the skills in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) that we need to compete in the global economy. Big data technology is one of the areas where UK universities can take the lead in research and development and that is why I welcome today’s announcement of the collaboration between Imperial and Huawei.”  

In the opinion of Sir Keith O’Nions, President of Imperial College London, “Imperial and Huawei share a commitment to developing the next generation of big data technologies for the benefit of our society and economy”. He concluded that Huawei’s investment of knowledge and funding in this lab will empower some of the world’s leading experts to accelerate the development of next-generation big data technologies.

Every year for the past 10 years, Huawei has invested over 10 percent of its global revenue into R&D; in 2013 this equated to over US$5.4 billion, accounting for more than 14 percent of the revenue, told William Xu, CEO of Huawei Enterprise Business Group. “Investing in innovation is central to Huawei’s business strategy and this exciting collaboration will help us stay at the cutting edge of data science developments. By bringing together its experts and our engineers we believe we can create new products and services that will harness the huge potential of big data. This collaboration with Imperial also bolsters the wider partnership programme we have with British universities, which includes working with other institutions around the UK on the 5G technologies that will revolutionise how we communicate in the future.”

Further information is available at: www.huawei.eu