Event review: What data-driven innovation means for business in Scotland

EPCC is at the heart of the Data Driven Innovation programme(link is external) of  the Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region Deal

This £661m programme will lead to the creation of major new data services for Scottish business, with EPCC providing the World Class Data Infrastructure (WCDI) that will underpin it.

Last week EPCC hosted an event to explain the enormous potential of data-driven innovation for industry and to show how companies are already using data technologies to enhance commercial performance.

Around 50 people from local businesses and enterprise agencies attended the event at EPCC's new home in the Bayes Centre in Edinburgh. It began with an update by EPCC’s Director Professor Mark Parsons on their activities in data analytics including the plans for building the WCDI, which will support work with complex, high volume, real-time datasets from across the City Region and beyond.   This was followed by a presentation of real-life examples of data analytics in use by the games industry, food manufacturing and digital scanning. 

The National Data Safe Haven, hosted by EPCC, is a secure place for storing and controlling research access to Scottish health-related data. The challenges of providing data safe havens were explained by EPCC System Architect Donald Scobbie

Simon Chapple rounded off this event by describing the work of his team at The Internet of Things (IoT) Research & Innovation Service at The University of Edinburgh. His talk explained how companies are exploiting the real-time monitoring and tracking enabled by IoT technology, looking at areas such as healthcare, tourism and animal welfare.    This event followed on from EPCC's ‘Industry 4.0’ workshop in September. The format of these events, with short presentations and plenty of time for discussion, is designed to give a forum for the exchange of knowledge and ideas.

Author: EPCC (www.epcc.ed.ac.uk)