The European Commission and Europe's data industry have committed to invest €2.5 billion in a public-private partnership (PPP) that aims to strengthen the data sector and put Europe at the forefront of the global data race.
Mastering big data could mean:
- up to 30% of the global data market for European suppliers;
- 100,000 new data-related jobs in Europe by 2020;
- 10% lower energy consumption, better health-care outcomes and more productive industrial machinery.
A Memorandum of Understanding to set up the PPP on big data will be signed today by European Commission Vice President Neelie Kroes and President of the Big Data Value Association, Jan Sundelin, who acts on behalf of companies including ATOS, Nokia Solutions and Networks, Orange, SAP, SIEMENS, and research bodies such as Fraunhofer and the German Research Centre for Artificial Intelligence.
The EU has earmarked over €500 million of investment over 5 years (2016-2020) from Horizon 2020 which private partners are expected to match at least four times over (€2 billion).
The PPP will help focus public, private and academic research efforts to support research and innovation in game-changing big data ideas. The PPP will also support “Innovation Spaces” that will offer secure environments for experimenting with both private and open data. These will also act as business incubators and hubs for the development of skills and best practices.
Due to start on 1 January 2015, the PPP is one of the first outcomes of the European Commission's recent policy and action plan accelerate the development of Europe's data-driven economy.
The data sector is growing by 40% per year, 7 times quicker than the overall information and communications market. Businesses that build their decision-making processes on knowledge generated from data see a 5‑6% increase in productivity.
Global big data technology and services are predicted to create hundreds of thousands of new jobs in the coming years.
The Data PPP is a partnership between the European Commission and the Big Data Value Association, a non-profit, industry-led organisation. The association is open for additional companies and research organisations to join.
Current members include ATC, IT Innovation, IBM, SINTEF, University of Bologna (CINI), Polytechnical University of Madrid, NOKIA Solutions and Networks, THALES, University of Duisburg Essen, Siemens, SAP, Engineering, TIE Kintetx, ANSWARE, Software AG, Orange, Atos, INDRA, ITI, VTT, Fraunhofer, DERI, and the Technical University of Berlin.
Barhale has completed work on two separate Rapid Action Taskforce Spills projects it is carrying out for Severn Trent.
Börger UK, which has firmly established itself as a leading pump brand since it was set up in Staffordshire in 2004, has moved into bigger, brand-new premises in Shrewsbury.
HUBER Technology UK & Ireland are inviting people to register for their March webinar where they will be providing information about HUBER water intake screens for municipal and industrial applications.
Sulzer has launched a new global Center of Excellence (CoE) for Water Treatment Solutions - the CoE consolidates Sulzer’s wastewater treatment expertise in a unified and global manner.
Hear how Scottish Water has completed its £235 million Ayrshire Glasgow Resilience Project - customers across Greater Glasgow, Ayrshire and East Renfrewshire will now benefit from a more secure and resilient water supply.
Hear how United Utilities is accelerating its investment to reduce spills from storm overflows across the Northwest.
Find out more about the remarkable career opportunities on offer at WSP - scroll down to watch the inspirational video.