EY launches Global Innovation Centre in Madrid, Spain

Professional services firm EY has opened a Global Innovation Centre in Madrid, Spain. The new centre has opened with 50 data scientists that will focus on in managing and analysing Big Data in Financial Services for clients across the globe.

The Global Innovation Centre will focus on Big Data in Financial Services and is part of EY’s $500 million global investment in analytics. The newly launched centre in Madrid, a European hub for data innovation, will house 50 data scientists and aims to grow to a 200-strong team, with 300 additional data scientists across Europe.

The centre will assist financial services firms in using the data they collect and store to improve their products and customer experience. To do so, the centre provides:

• Discovery labs: to design and create new ways of managing and analysing Big Data and creating intellectual property (IP).
• Analytics factory: to build on IP and provide analytics to EY’s clients
• Business Partnership Programme: to identify opportunities for collaboration with industry, universities and start-ups.
• Learning network: to connect the centre with experienced professionals and start-ups across the world to share and develop new technologies.
• The EY Analytics Academy: to offer a one-year educational course in Big Data and advanced analytics.

“We see significant client need and demand to better understand and manage their customer and business data. The challenge is to use the information insightfully to create real value for the customer while also identifying ways in which the business can be managed more effectively and efficiently. Doing this well is difficult and will require the industry to develop new and enhance existing data analysis skills and capabilities,” explains Andy Baldwin, EY’s Managing Partner for Financial Services across EMEIA. “This is why we have decided to expand our existing dedicated Financial Services team of international data scientists to more than 500 over the next few years as part of our commitment to support our clients in this key new capability area.”

Beatriz Sanz, Partner and Data Analytics Leader for EY financial services in EMEIA, adds: “The firms that successfully put their data to use will find they have real competitive advantage in the market. We are already seeing enormous interest from our clients in our new Centre, as financial services firms grow increasingly hungry for new and innovative ideas around how to manage and mine their growing pool of data and use it to win and keep customers.”