Huawei Partners With University Of Edinburgh On Data Science

Huawei is strengthening its relationship with UK academia through a new partnership with the University of Edinburgh that will see the two parties work together on data science technologies.

A new Joint Lab for Distributed Data Management and Processing will be established at the institution, which has relationships with more than 50 Chinese universities.

Over the next three years experts will research technologies than can solve data challenges in both academic and industrial settings with a view to commercialising them so they can form the basis of “next generation” IT products and services.

Huawei Edinburgh partnership

“The University of Edinburgh is delighted to partner with Huawei to perform further research into data science and data management,” said Timothy O’Shea, University of Edinburgh principal. “The creation of this laboratory gives our researchers the opportunity to apply their expertise to large-scale, real world challenges in this very exciting area.”

Huawei already works with several academic institutions in the UK, including the University of Manchester’s National Graphene Institution and the University of Surrey’s 5G Innovation Centre.

It also has a wide ranging relationship with the British government and is in the middle of a £1.3 billion investment programme in the UK, where it has a headquarters in Reading. It is a supplier for several UK telcos including BT, which earlier this week warned Brexit could negatively affect R&D.

The Shenzhen-based firm says the partnership with the University of Edinburgh will act as a new collaborative model for Huawei and other universities.

“Huawei is a long-term advocate of open innovation,” said Ken Hu, Huawei rotating CEO. “We work with over 100 leading universities around the world, and the joint lab we are launching with the University of Edinburgh will go a long way in helping the ICT industry further its research into data science and enable digital transformation.

“The links between industrial and academic communities are strong here, so Europe is an excellent place for collaboration between business and academia.”

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