UK GOV partners with IBM to boost Big Data research

The UK Government has signed a £313 million partnership with IBM to boost Big Data research in the UK through the expansion of the Hartree Centre at Daresbury over the next five years. To do so, the UK Government will invest £113 million in the project, with IBM investing an additional £200 million in the form of technology and onsite expertise.

Hartree Centre
The Hartree Centre, which is part of the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) Darebury Laboratory, drives growth and innovation between science and industry using intense computing. The centre uses high performance computing, Big Data analytics, simulation and modelling in its collaboration with industrial clients and research partners to help them produce better outcomes, products and services. Reinforced with funding from the UK Government, the centre enables academics and industry within the UK and on an international scale to solve research challenges, establish competitive advantage and stimulate economic growth.

Last autumn, the UK Government announced to invest £113 million into the expansion of the Hartree Centre. Earlier this month, the Universities and Science Minister Jo Johnson unveiled the partnership with IBM to boost the investment with an additional £200 million provided by the IT firm in the form of technology and onsite expertise.

IBM will contribute by giving the centre access to the latest data-centric and cognitive computing technologies, including its ‘Watson’ cognitive computing platform and OpenPOWER technologies. In addition, 24 IBM researchers will be based at the Hartree Centre, working with the centre’s researchers on collaborative projects to “develop advanced software solutions to address real world challenges in academia, industry and government.”

Commenting on the partnership, Johnson says: “This partnership with IBM, which builds on our £113 million 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.”

David Stokes, Chief Executive for IBM in the UK and Ireland, adds: “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.”