KPMG and Imperial Open Business Analytics Centre

In London, KPMG and Imperial College have partnered to create the 'KPMG Centre for Advanced Business Analytics', fuelled by a $20m investment from the management consulting giant.

Last November, KPMG launched a £66m fund to invest in big data and analytics businesses through acquisitions and technology partnerships. The new centre will develop innovative approaches, analytical methods and tools for using big data to help retailers better understand consumer behaviour.

The eight year project, which will be led by researchers at Imperial College Business School as part of the Data Science Institute, will involve a joint team working together on around fifteen to twenty projects per year. As part of the launch, KPMG and Imperial are unveiling a number of initiatives, the first of which is a 'Global Data Observatory', to bring large and complex amounts of data together with data visualisation capabilities, and allow researchers to spot patterns and gain insights into complex business issues.

Professor G 'Anand' Anandalingam, Dean of Imperial College Business School, comments: 'For businesses to compete in a globalised economy they need a full understanding of markets, customers, products, regulations, competitors, employees and much more. The KPMG Centre for Advanced Business Analytics aims to address these challenges by looking at how we can translate complicated information and turn it into potential solutions.'

Web sites: www.kpmg.co.uk and www.imperial.ac.uk .