Imperial College London and the University of Souampton unveil cognitive computing teaching and research collaborations based on IBM Watson

London and Southampton, UK - 13 Nov 2014: The University of Southampton and Imperial College London have today announced partnerships with IBM (NYSE: IBM) to offer students and staff cognitive computing education with unprecedented access to IBMs Watson technology and experts.

Imperial College London will offer new courses to provide students with opportunities for hands-on learning as they work to develop cognitive computing solutions to address business and societal challenges. The partnership extends cognitive systems activities in Imperial's Department of Computing as well as in other College departments already involved in related interdisciplinary research.

Selected undergraduate and postgraduate students from the Department of Computing, Imperial College London will be enrolled in early 2015 in a course organised and led by Dr Alessandra Russo, the Department's Director of Postgraduate Research.

The University of Southampton will collaborate with IBM Watson on exciting ground-breaking interdisciplinary PhD research projects across a wide range of sectors from Marine & Maritime to Computer Science, Computational Chemistry and ground-breaking medical research.

Southampton students will also engage with Watson through a new Cognitive Computing module as part of its Curriculum Innovation programme which will initially be available to over 150 undergraduate and Master's students across all disciplines.

According to the Governments recent Information Economy Strategy report, business sectors across the economy are being transformed by data, analytics and modelling; and these will bring massive opportunities if Government, industry and academia work together. However one of the key dependencies is to create a highly skilled digital workforce. Data from the Tech Partnership shows that 120,000 new entrants a year are required to fill specialist technology job roles in the UK and that the industry delivers an annual economic contribution of £84 billion or 6% of the total UK economy.

Watson represents a new era of computing based on its ability to interact in natural language, process vast amounts of disparate forms of big data, and learn from each interaction. The collaborations between IBM and the Universities aim to help nurture the next generation of innovators needed; and are the first initiatives of this type in the UK.

Professor David Gann, Vice President (Development and Innovation) at Imperial College London, said: As a leader in education and research in cognitive computing, Imperial College London aims to prepare industry-ready students to harness this combination of science and technology and create innovative products and services. It is crucial for our students to be able to work with the most cutting-edge systems and technologies, and we are truly excited about this partnership with IBM - which will enable this through a multidisciplinary and systematic approach. Our Department of Computing already collaborates closely with IBM in areas related to security, network management and intelligence services. This new initiative takes our strategic alliance to a new level. Students and researchers will benefit greatly from access to the latest generation of capabilities from IBM.

As a University which prides itself on being at the forefront of cutting edge technological and educational developments, the introduction of Watson into our curricular and extra-curricular activities is a natural step as we seek to transform the experience and resources available to our students and staff, said Dr Russell Bentley, Assistant Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Education) at the University of Southampton. In particular, Watson will be a tremendous asset to participants on our innovative Curriculum Innovation programme, which encourages students from across disciplines and subject to come together to develop new skills.

The possibilities are endless thanks to IBM and Watson and we're grateful for the opportunity to work in partnership with IBM to push back the boundaries of global education for now and for the future, Dr Bentley concluded.

Working closely with both universities, IBM will provide a range of resources and support, including:

Access to IBM Watson through the Watson Developer Cloud;

IBM developers and researchers, to advise on new content and implementation;

Guest lectures to be conducted by senior IBM executives and thought leaders and;

IBM Watson technical mentors to provide guidance, as students work with Watson and build prototypes of cognitive business applications.

Rashik Parmar, Partnership Executive, IBM UK and Ireland said: We are entering into the era of cognitive computing which has the potential to change the way people interact with technology.

As the leader in Big Data and analytics, IBM is excited to be partnering with two of the world's top universities to bring cognitive computing to some of their brightest minds and put Watson into the hands of our future innovators. Through these collaborations and other Watson initiatives, we hope to be able to continually play an integral role in transforming industries.

Todays announcements between IBM and the Universities build on long established partnerships involving Computing, Business Innovation and other domains in science and technology.

About The University of Southampton

Through world-leading research and enterprise activities, the University of Southampton connects with businesses to create real-world solutions to global issues. Through its educational offering, it works with partners around the world to offer relevant, flexible education, which trains students for jobs not even thought of. This connectivity is what sets Southampton apart from the rest; we make connections and change the world.

http://www.southampton.ac.uk/weareconnected

About Imperial College London

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LINK:	http://www-03.ibm.com/press/uk/en/pressrelease/45447.wss...
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