New data centre in Newcastle aims to help create 1,000 new jobs; The centre on Newcastle Science Central site will put the city at the forefront of the use of digital data.
Byline: Graeme Whitfield
A [pounds sterling]30m data innovation centre to be built by Newcastle University will help to create 1,000 jobs in the region's booming tech sector, it has been claimed.
Chancellor George Osborne announced [pounds sterling]15m of funding for a National Institute for Smart Data Innovation (NISDI) in the Budget, and the university will match-fund that figure.
The centre, which see the local businesses working with world-leading academics, aims to develop the skills, ideas and resources needed to exploit the opportunities offered by the explosion in digital data.
The project has developed from an initiative proposed by Dynamo, an umbrella group for the North East's technology sector.
Last June, the region's tech network called for the establishment of a Northern Institute of Technology and developed a case for the benefits to the region of leading in the Information Revolution.
Dynamo vice chair Neil Hemming, who has worked with firms including BT and Vodafone, said: "The application of smart data technology has the potential to benefit significantly all sectors of the UK economy with estimated financial impact measured in billions of pounds.
"The opportunity for the North East to take a leadership role in the development and deployment of smart data for the UK represents a massive opportunity to build on and scale our existing impressive local capabilities.
"Our approach has been to break down any barriers between academia and business in NISDI. We hope NISDI can continue to develop this engaging model and reap dividends locally - there are many examples whether in Berkeley, USA, or Sophia Antipolis, France, where high-end research has acted as a catalyst for the local economy.
"We already have strong research and development in the region, whether Nissan, Siemens, BT, Red Hat, HP or Sage. NISDI will be a magnet for much more - and operate on Science Central alongside the National Ageing Science and Research Institute, Cloud Innovation Centre and the Urban Sciences Building.
"Joining the dots between these cross industry, regional assets with smart data is very, very exciting."
The centre will...
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