‘Big data’ innovation centre set to add over 300 jobs and £150m to Scottish economy

A new £11.3 million innovation centre dedicated to helping Scotland capitalise on the growing market in analytics and ‘big data’ technology is set to open later this year. The investment is projected to return a minimum of 345 new jobs and an additional £155 million of value to the Scottish Economy.

The Data Lab, funded by the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) with support from Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise, will revolutionise the way in which Scottish industry develops and applies cutting-edge analytics and data science techniques to capture new market opportunities and boost productivity.

The centre will build on innovation from Scotland’s world-leading university sector and transform the way in which industry, public sector and academic institutions collaborate. The Data Lab bid was industry-led, headed by the Scottish Technology Advisory Group’s Big Data Lead, ScotlandIS, Lockheed Martin, DC Thomson-owned brightsolid and SAS, one of the world’s largest software companies. With Hub locations in Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow, Data Lab’s focus will be on the Digital Technology, Energy, Financial Services, Healthcare, and Public Sector markets.

Professor Aaron Quigley, Director for Knowledge Exchange for the Scottish Informatics and Computer Science Alliance, said, “The launch of this Data Science Innovation Centre presents us the vital opportunity to connect growing, data-attuned industries with world-leading academic expertise in all areas of data science. It positions the Data Lab to become a world leader in Data Science, and the place academia and industry come for Data Science innovation and leadership. Across 14 Universities we are looking forward to working with industry on breakthrough innovation, by drawing on cutting-edge research to produce new products, jobs, services and insights.”

Data Lab will focus on delivering 100+ new collaborative innovation projects; educating 1,000+ professionals through a range of education programmes; and strengthening the local community through workshops and high-profile events. The Data Lab will launch later this year.

For more information and to register your interest in The Data Lab please visit: http://www.thedatalab.com or contact David Richardson via djcr@ed.ac.uk.

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