Bull and University of Warwick Join Forces on Big Data

Bull Information Systems has formed a strategic partnership with the University of Warwick to help UK businesses take the lead in realising the full commercial potential of big data and take advantage of the opportunities it presents.

The partnership will see business experts from Bull and data scientists from the university’s strategic business research unit combine skills, knowledge and high performance computing resources to help existing Bull customers and others increase their understanding of data integration and analysis and devise practical ways to exploit the results.

“So much has been discussed about the possibilities of big data yet few businesses have the advanced expertise needed to go beyond this,” explains Andrew Carr, CEO Bull UK and Ireland. “They may already have a vision but be unsure about how to get there – or they may not even be aware of what they could achieve with the data they hold and need help to identify the opportunities.

“By taking this challenge beyond the mainstream business environment and engaging the best brains possible on the subject, we can help organisations start to realise big data implementations by injecting a new dynamism into high performance project development that will enable them to be the first to market with their initiatives.”

The new partnership builds on Bull’s ongoing relationship with Warwick. Bull has previously sponsored PhD studentships and supported a Master of Engineering degree course, running regular technology-based projects and a series of seminars on high performance computing for students.

“This kind of forward-thinking collaboration between business and universities not only brings rewards for all those involved, it also helps create a concentrated hub of significant expertise which will benefit the UK economy as a whole,” says University of Warwick’s Professor of Computer Science, Stephen Jarvis.

“Organisations are bombarded by data in diverse forms from social media to connected sensors, but few know how to combine structured and unstructured forms and convert data to information to give real value. We aim to help them overcome these barriers and to develop great commercial applications that will significantly improve the experience of their customers,” he adds.