£313m partnership to boost Big Data research in the UK

The company’s contributions will include access to its latest data-centric and cognitive computing technologies, onsite expertise at the Hartree Centre and the commercialisation of intellectual property assets produced in partnership with the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), which runs the Hartree Centre.

Advanced data-centric and cognitive computing technologies enable non-computer specialists to gain insight from the vast amounts of data being generated today, and do so in a more natural, human-friendly way. Delivered through the cloud, IBM’s Watson analyses high volumes of data, understands complex questions posed in natural language, and proposes evidence-based answers. It continuously learns, gaining in value and knowledge over time, from previous interactions.

The Hartree Centre will directly benefit from breakthrough innovations rapidly emerging from theOpenPOWER Foundation, an open development community backed by IBM, NVIDIA, Mellanox and well over 100 other organisations worldwide. The research programme will leverage OpenPOWER high performance computing innovations to enable complex analytics on massive amounts of data.

The Hartree Centre is already helping businesses like Unilever and Glaxo SmithKline use high performance computing to improve the stability of home products such as fabric softeners and to pinpoint
links between genes and diseases.

STFC and IBM will engage in collaborative projects with third parties and draw on the scientific excellence of UK universities to develop advanced software solutions to address real world challenges in academia, industry and government.

More than two dozen IBM researchers will be based at the Hartree Centre at Sci-Tech Daresbury, and will work side-by-side with the Centre’s researchers to develop new tools, algorithms and approaches to Big Data that will help the UK industry and commerce take greater advantage of the wealth of insights hidden in that data.

Jo Johnson said: “We live in an information economy, from the smart devices we use every day to the super-computers that helped find the Higgs Boson, the power of advanced computing means we now have access to vast amounts of data. This partnership with IBM, which builds on our £113m investment to expand the Hartree Centre, will help businesses make the best use of Big Data to develop better products and services that will boost productivity, drive growth and create jobs.”

“We’re at the dawn of a new era of cognitive computing, during which advanced data-centric computing models and open innovation approaches will allow technology to greatly augment decision-making capabilities for business and government. The expansion of our collaboration with STFC builds upon Hartree's successful engagement with industry and its record in commercialising technological developments, and provides a world-class environment using Watson and OpenPOWER technologies to extend the boundaries of Big Data and cognitive computing,” commented David Stokes, Chief Executive, IBM, UK and Ireland.

Professor John Womersley, Chief Executive, STFC, said: “Data intensive techniques are transforming every discipline of science, and connecting these capabilities to the needs of industry has the potential to revolutionise every business sector.

“The Government’s five-year investment in the Hartree Centre will deliver a step-change in capability in this area, and will bring in significant knowledge and expertise from IBM Research that will help ensure our science and industry remains at the very forefront of research and development.”