New Hartree National Centre for Digital Innovation
will bring together innovative AI, quantum
computing and the expertise of STFC Hartree Centre
and IBM to benefit UK industry and research
communities
DARESBURY, United Kingdom,
June 4, 2021 /PRNewswire/
-- Science Minister Amanda
Solloway has unveiled a five-year, £210 million partnership
with IBM (NYSE: IBM). Its mission is to support UK businesses and
the public sector by reducing the risk of exploring and adopting
innovative new digital technologies, such as artificial
intelligence (AI) and quantum computing, by breaking down practical
barriers to innovation such as access to infrastructure or digital
skills gaps within their organisation. By advancing the pace at
which businesses can take advantage of new digital technologies,
the collaboration will enhance productivity, create new skilled
jobs and boost regional and national economic growth.
Based in Daresbury, an additional 60 new scientists, interns and
students will join IBM Research and the Hartree Centre, within the
UK Research and Innovation's Science and Technology Facilities
Council (STFC) to establish a joint STFC – IBM programme called the
Hartree National Centre for Digital Innovation (HNCDI),
which will apply AI, high performance computing and data
analytics, quantum computing and cloud technologies to accelerate
discovery and develop innovative solutions to industry challenges
including materials development, life sciences, environmental
sustainability and manufacturing.
The research is part of IBM's global Discovery Accelerator
initiative, which seeks to accelerate discovery and innovation
based on a convergence of advanced technologies by establishing
research centres, fostering and enabling collaborative communities,
and advancing skills and economic growth in large-scale
programs.
HNCDI will help organisations to navigate four key stages
of digital adoption by:
- Providing accessible training and application-focused skills,
equipping staff to take full advantage of digital
technologies.
- Exploring and discovering the technologies businesses need to
succeed.
- Turning ideas into practical digital solutions for
industry.
- Identifying and preparing for emerging technologies needed to
futureproof the UK economy.
"Artificial intelligence and quantum computing have the
potential to revolutionise everything from the way we travel to the
way we shop. They are exactly the kind of fields I want the UK to
be leading in, and this new centre in the North West is a big step
towards that. Thanks to this fantastic new partnership with IBM,
British businesses will have access to the kind of infrastructure
and expertise that will help them boost innovation and grow the
economy – essential as we build back better from the pandemic,"
Science Minister Amanda
Solloway.
The HNCDI programme will support several industry projects to
accelerate adoption of advanced digital technologies with UK
companies of various sizes.
"Digitally-enabled innovation to create sustainable materials is
an essential part of Unilever's Compass strategy and our ambitions
to create renewable and sustainable products across our Beauty and
Personal Care and Home Care divisions. It is exciting to see how
this work is being accelerated through collaborative research and
innovation with the STFC Hartree Centre. This further investment
will undoubtedly increase research and innovation on important
technology areas and projects for the UK economy and industry,"
Richard Slater, Chief R&D
Officer, Unilever
"Support from the STFC's Hartree Centre and IBM has enabled
Gexcon to investigate the use of surrogate modelling in our
advanced dispersion, explosion, and fire modelling tools. This
has enabled us to realise the potential benefits of this approach
and make plans for its implementation. We hope to continue this
work together in the future to achieve improved validation
techniques that will directly allow our customers to improve the
safety of their facilities," said Chris Coffey, Global FLACS
Product & Strategic Business Development Manager,
Gexcon UK.
"HNCDI will enable the UK to develop the skills, knowledge and
technical capability required to adopt emerging digital
technologies, seeding the UK with new ideas and innovative
solutions. The programme has transformative potential to generate
long-term GVA for the economy by embedding AI solutions across UK
industry. We are applying knowledge from the UK's strong
fundamental research base to develop tools and techniques that
address identified industry and public sector needs, improving
economic and societal outcomes," said Professor Mark Thomson, Executive Chair of STFC Hartree
Centre.
STFC Hartree Centre will join the IBM Quantum Network, in which
more than 150 organizations, including bp and UK start-ups
Cambridge Quantum Computing and Phasecraft, are provided access to
IBM's premium quantum computers and development tools via the IBM
Hybrid Cloud to significantly broaden the scope of problems than
can be addressed. Quantum scientists at the Centre will help grow
the quantum ecosystem with a focus on advancing quantum skills
across the UK and support UK industry to realize the potential of
quantum computing technologies.
In addition to quantum computing, scientists working on HNCDI
will have access to a vast portfolio of IBM commercial and emerging
AI technologies focused on materials design, scaling and
automation, asset management, supply chain and trusted AI.
"The world is facing grand challenges which demand a different
approach towards science in computing, including AI and quantum
computing, to engage a broad community across industry, government,
and academia to accelerate discovery in science and business," said
Dario Gil, Senior Vice President and
Director, IBM Research. "This partnership establishes our first
Discovery Accelerator in Europe
driven by our two UK-based IBM Research locations in Hursley and
Daresbury as they contribute to our global mission of building
discovery-driven communities around the world."
This announcement builds on a previous collaboration between IBM
and the STFC Hartree Centre that started in 2013 and is part of a
larger investment by the UK to increase R&D spending to 2.4
percent GDP.
About STFC Hartree Centre
The Science and
Technology Facilities Council (STFC) Hartree Centre's mission is to
transform UK industry through high performance computing, data
analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. As part of
UK Research and Innovation, the Hartree Centre is home to some of
the most advanced computing, data and AI technologies in the
UK.
From early stage SMEs to international corporations, Hartree
Centre experts work with industry and the research community to
address real life challenges and accelerate the adoption of high
performance technologies, delivering transformative gains in
performance, productivity and time to market.
About IBM
IBM is a leading global hybrid cloud and AI,
and business services provider, helping clients in more than 175
countries capitalize on insights from their data, streamline
business processes, reduce costs and gain the competitive edge in
their industries. Nearly 3,000 government and corporate entities in
critical infrastructure areas such as financial services,
telecommunications and healthcare rely on IBM's hybrid cloud
platform and Red Hat OpenShift to affect their digital
transformations quickly, efficiently and securely. IBM's
breakthrough innovations in AI, quantum computing,
industry-specific cloud solutions and business services deliver
open and flexible options to our clients. All of this is backed by
IBM's legendary commitment to trust, transparency, responsibility,
inclusivity and service.
Contacts:
Science and Technology Facilities Council
Michelle Snowden
michelle.snowden@stfc.ukri.org
+44 7596 888 943
IBM UKI
Emma Bennett
Emma.Bennett@uk.ibm.com
+44 07976 839109
IBM Research
Chris Sciacca
cia@zurich.ibm.com
+41 44 724 8443
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