KPMG UK invests 20 million in Big Data analytics centre
KPMG and Imperial College London are entering in a partnership to create the ‘KPMG Centre for Advanced Business Analytics’. To finance the centre that will enable businesses to make better use of big data, the global accounting and consulting firm will invest £20 million.
Imperial College London, a science-based institution, and KPMG UK have announced a partnership to create the ‘KPMG Centre for Advanced Business Analytics’. The objective of the centre is to enable businesses to make better use of Big Data, such as enabling banks to predict fraud or helping retailers better understand consumer behaviour, and to put the UK at the forefront of data science. “It's encouraging to see Imperial College London and KPMG teaming up on this new partnership that will both accelerate the speed in which data based research is carried out and the time it takes to commercialise new ideas into everyday practice benefiting UK businesses,” says David Willetts, the outgoing Minister of State for Universities and Science.
The centre will focus on 5 key areas that have been selected to help UK businesses gain a competitive edge by launching products and services ahead of international competitors. These areas are:
As part of the launch of the centre, several initiatives have been unveiled by KMPG and Imperial College London. The Global Data Observatory, for instance, is created to bring large and complex amounts of data together with data visualisation capabilities. This will allow researchers to spot patterns and get concrete insights into complex business issues.
Governance
The partnership between KPMG UK and Imperial College London has been agreed for eight years with the ambition of completing 15 to 20 projects per year. The centre will be managed by researchers at Imperial College Business School, as part of the College’s Data Science Institute. To ensure the centre is equipped with the necessary firepower, KPMG has agreed to invest £20 million. “More data has been created in the last two years than in the rest of history. Our collaboration with Imperial is about developing the people and skills to use that data to drive new industries and new services,” says KPMG UK chairman and Senior Partner Simon Collins.
