2009 Press Releases
New Risk Management Analytics Research Collaboration announced between UCC and IBM
19.10.2009
University College Cork (UCC), IBM (NYSE: IBM) and the Industrial Development Agency of Ireland (IDA Ireland) have announced a new Risk Management Analytics research collaboration, joining IBM's worldwide network of advanced analytic centres in the US, Germany and UK.
19.10.2009
University College Cork (UCC), IBM (NYSE: IBM) and the Industrial Development Agency of Ireland (IDA Ireland) have announced a new Risk Management Analytics research collaboration, joining IBM's worldwide network of advanced analytic centres in the US, Germany and UK.
UCC will join together with IBM through its established collaboratory in Ireland, and with IRCSET, Science Foundation Ireland, and IBM Research scientists in Zurich, Switzerland and Yorktown Heights, NY, USA on the development of these advanced risk analytics technologies.
"Our mission is to help computers help people make better decisions, and IBM's breadth and depth of both scientific expertise and business experience make it an ideal partner for us in pursuing this mission," said Professor Eugene Freuder, Director of the Cork Constraint Computation Centre at UCC. "In the modern knowledge economy it is particularly important to bring proper risk analysis and management into the complex decisions faced by business and government. An additional benefit of this initiative is that it supports a collaboration at UCC between the Cork Constraint Computation Centre in the Computer Science Department and the School of Medicine." Dr Steve Prestwich, Dr Nic Wilson and Dr Dylan Evans, with support from Dr James Little, will be leading the collaboration on the UCC side.
As part of the initiative, IBM is utilising the vast expertise of its Research labs - harnessing next generation analytics and intelligent software - to develop enhanced methods and tools that will help companies in industries such as manufacturing, pharmaceutical, healthcare, and government to better manage risk.
"This collaboration provides IBM the opportunity to explore exciting new areas of risk modelling and management, incorporating new techniques in information extraction, visualisation, and optimisation that will enable businesses to more effectively manage their operations in the face of uncertainty," said Brenda Dietrich Vice President of Business Analytics and Math Sciences at IBM Research and an IBM Research Fellow. "Ireland's track record, combined with its ongoing research and development approach to new business creation, makes it an ideal location for the Risk Management Analytics research."
The primary research will be in the areas of risk information extraction and quantification based on both structured and unstructured data as well as expert opinion, efficient risk-based optimisation techniques, and ways to communicate and interact with risk information. Such techniques can be used, for example, to assess and plan for potential supplier or labour disruptions, determine optimal policies for drug administration across patients, or make smarter investments in energy sources.
Commenting on the announcement, Minister for Finance, Mr Brian Lenihan TD said: "This further investment by IBM, one of Ireland's largest employers, is sincerely welcomed following on from the establishment of the company's Green Data Centre and Exascale projects. The formation of this maths focused research team demonstrates at the highest level the importance of mathematics to the Irish economy and mirrors the Government's focus on providing investors to Ireland with the highest-level mathematics graduates."
"Research and Development is vital to the growth of Ireland's knowledge economy and this project in particular is vital to the strategic development of IBM on a global scale. Ireland has a long-standing and strong relationship with IBM and with the support of the Irish Government we look forward to building further on this into the future," the Minister concluded.
Pictured at the announcement were L-R: Dr Dylan Evans, Lecturer in Behavioural Science, School of Medicine, UCC; Dr Katharine Frase, Vice President at IBM Research; Mr Brian Lenihan TD, Minister for Finance and Professor Eugene Freuder, Director of 4C, UCC.
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"Our mission is to help computers help people make better decisions, and IBM's breadth and depth of both scientific expertise and business experience make it an ideal partner for us in pursuing this mission," said Professor Eugene Freuder, Director of the Cork Constraint Computation Centre at UCC. "In the modern knowledge economy it is particularly important to bring proper risk analysis and management into the complex decisions faced by business and government. An additional benefit of this initiative is that it supports a collaboration at UCC between the Cork Constraint Computation Centre in the Computer Science Department and the School of Medicine." Dr Steve Prestwich, Dr Nic Wilson and Dr Dylan Evans, with support from Dr James Little, will be leading the collaboration on the UCC side.
As part of the initiative, IBM is utilising the vast expertise of its Research labs - harnessing next generation analytics and intelligent software - to develop enhanced methods and tools that will help companies in industries such as manufacturing, pharmaceutical, healthcare, and government to better manage risk.
"This collaboration provides IBM the opportunity to explore exciting new areas of risk modelling and management, incorporating new techniques in information extraction, visualisation, and optimisation that will enable businesses to more effectively manage their operations in the face of uncertainty," said Brenda Dietrich Vice President of Business Analytics and Math Sciences at IBM Research and an IBM Research Fellow. "Ireland's track record, combined with its ongoing research and development approach to new business creation, makes it an ideal location for the Risk Management Analytics research."
The primary research will be in the areas of risk information extraction and quantification based on both structured and unstructured data as well as expert opinion, efficient risk-based optimisation techniques, and ways to communicate and interact with risk information. Such techniques can be used, for example, to assess and plan for potential supplier or labour disruptions, determine optimal policies for drug administration across patients, or make smarter investments in energy sources.
Commenting on the announcement, Minister for Finance, Mr Brian Lenihan TD said: "This further investment by IBM, one of Ireland's largest employers, is sincerely welcomed following on from the establishment of the company's Green Data Centre and Exascale projects. The formation of this maths focused research team demonstrates at the highest level the importance of mathematics to the Irish economy and mirrors the Government's focus on providing investors to Ireland with the highest-level mathematics graduates."
"Research and Development is vital to the growth of Ireland's knowledge economy and this project in particular is vital to the strategic development of IBM on a global scale. Ireland has a long-standing and strong relationship with IBM and with the support of the Irish Government we look forward to building further on this into the future," the Minister concluded.
Pictured at the announcement were L-R: Dr Dylan Evans, Lecturer in Behavioural Science, School of Medicine, UCC; Dr Katharine Frase, Vice President at IBM Research; Mr Brian Lenihan TD, Minister for Finance and Professor Eugene Freuder, Director of 4C, UCC.
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