Hewlett Packard Enterprise to power Edinburgh International Data Facility

By ogrepublic Last updated Aug 20, 2020

Hewlett Packard Enterprise has won a bid to power Europe’s first regional data innovation centre, taking Edinburgh one step closer to becoming the data capital of Europe.

Scottish first in Europe

The University of Edinburgh has teamed up with Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) to build Europe’s first region-wide data innovation hub that will offer R&D resources to unlock solutions to global problems across science, healthcare, climate change and more.

The deal, which has an expected value of more than US $125 million over 10 years, will help 1,000 public, private and non-profit organisations to develop products and services using R&D and other data-driven programmes.

HPE will deliver an end-to-end infrastructure featuring its industry-leading high-performance computing, software and artificial intelligence (AI) solutions.

Tackling global challenges head on

As a hub for innovation, the Edinburgh International Data Facility (EIDF) will enable R&D on projects that are focused on addressing global issues such as food production, climate change, space exploration and personalised healthcare.

Researchers will benefit from access to high-performance computing and AI technologies at EIDF. They’ll also have the ability to analyse modelling and simulation to increase accuracy of results and speed time to discovery.

By allowing users to securely access shared datasets and analytics from public and private sources, the EIDF will be able to improve overall insights.

“HPE is proud to embark on this long-term initiative with the University of Edinburgh. We were chosen due to the flexibility and reliability offered through our end-to-end solutions portfolio, and because we were one of the very few organisations able to seamlessly combine all the Edinburgh International Data Facility’s requirements into a single framework.”

Data-driven innovation

The EIDF will play a critical role in the region’s Data-Driven Innovation programme, which involves greater collaboration between industry, the public sector and academia.

The Data-Driven Innovation programme is another step towards cementing Edinburgh’s place as the data capital of Europe.

The University of Edinburgh is partnering with Heriot-Watt University in pioneering the programme. The programme aims to tackle societal and industrial challenges and deliver benefits from the data economy, while improving the digital and data skills of over 100,000 people from across the region.

“With the Edinburgh International Data Facility, we are combining computing and data resources to create a facility that will allow organisations to use data to innovate throughout their organisations. HPE is uniquely positioned to provide the spectrum of infrastructure and services, as well as the flexibility that this project demands,” said Mark Parsons, Director of EPCC, University of Edinburgh

A ray of light in response to COVID-19

Scotland’s world-leading researchers are working in partnership with other UK universities and life sciences firms providing a ray of light amid the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on people’s lives and livelihoods around the globe.

EIDF and EPCC (formerly Edinburgh Parallel Computing Centre), a supercomputing hub at the University of Edinburgh, are working closely with public agencies to support responses to COVID-19. For example, they’re working with the NHS and Public Health Scotland to create a secure data and computing environment for urgent research in Scotland into COVID-19.

EPCC is also working with clinical and genomic experts from Oxford, Liverpool, Manchester and Edinburgh universities, including Edinburgh’s Roslin Institute, to provide a data and computing environment to help search for possible genetic markers in COVID-19 patients.