Cognitive Analytics Research Lab launched with £4m Investment in Derry

Cognitive Analytics Research lab launched with £4m investment in Derry. Ulster University today cemented its reputation as a global leader in data analytics research with the launch of Northern Ireland’s first data analytics institute, creating 12 new research level posts and delivering £4 million in salaries over the next 5 years.

Bringing together businesses, government and advanced research expertise, Ulster University’s Cognitive Analytics Research Lab, will build upon the University’s existing internationally renowned research expertise in data analytics. It will be headquartered at Ulster University’s Magee campus with offices in Belfast campus.

With 90 per cent of the data in the world today being created in the last two years, data analytics research and the development of cognitive applications to support rapid decision making has never been more important. The global potential is vast across multiple domains including health and medical research, financial technology, international finance, advanced manufacturing and energy, media, and increasingly, government policy and decisions.

The Cognitive Analytics Lab will harness the full potential of over £30 million already recently invested by the University into data analytics related research projects.

It will consolidate existing and future high-quality skills and resources to drive the local research agenda and enhance Northern Ireland’s international competitiveness.

Across Ulster University, 60 research staff are already engaged in data analytics related research, representing a diverse range of sectors from personalised medicine to financial technology. Recruitment will now begin immediately for the additional 12 new academic posts, based across both sites, which will deliver in excess of £4 million in annual salaries into the local economy over the next 5 years.

Ulster University is partnering with Catalyst Inc to engage with the wider community and create an entrepreneurial eco-system. Letterkenny Institute of Technology is supporting skills development and delivery of increased research capacity on a cross border basis.

Ulster University Vice-Chancellor, Professor Paddy Nixon, said:

The Cognitive Analytics Research Lab, conceived and built from the ground up through collaborative consultation with our industry and civic stakeholders across Northern Ireland, will consolidate the internationally renowned expertise already evident throughout the University. Its founding principles reflect both Westminster and NI industrial strategy priorities; to put in place the foundations of competitiveness and ensure that as an internationally focused University, that we stand ready to maximise our contribution to economic prosperity. Through the lab, we can ensure that we maximise our industry partnerships and academic collaborations to deliver even greater economic and societal impact with pioneering solutions. Importantly, one of our key priorities will be to ensure that the lab leverages the potential of open government data, enabling our research to inform public policy and transform the lives of our citizens.

I am proud of our long history of expertise in Data Analytics and the contribution Ulster University researchers have made to core industry sectors, healthcare and beyond. From our Centre for Stratified Medicine to research into Functional Brain Mapping, our Capital Markets Collaboration to most recently, our INTERREG-supported Centre for Precision Medicine, Ulster University is ensuring that the potential to harness the power of data and develop computer systems with cognitive thought processes can be fully realised.”

The key focus for the centre will be application of research in Cognitive Analytics in a number of domain areas including (but not limited to):

• Health
• Financial Technology
• Advanced Manufacturing
• Media
• Energy
• Civic Society and Public Policy