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.
David Willetts MP, Universities and Science Minister, said “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.”
Sir Keith O’Nions, President of Imperial College London, said “Imperial and Huawei share a commitment to developing the next generation of big data technologies for the benefit of our society and economy. 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.”
William Xu, Chief Executive Officer of Huawei Enterprise Business Group, said “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. Imperial College is a global institution with unrivalled knowledge in this field. 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.”