LONDON – The Alan Turing Institute and Digital Catapult have forged a strategic alliance to advance the UK’s position as a global hub for data science and AI research, collaboration, and innovation. Today marks the official collaboration between the Turing and Digital Catapult, aimed at supporting start-ups and scale-ups in London to nurture their innovative concepts, according to a press release published on EuropaWire.

The partnership will offer support for nine start-up or scale-up companies to participate as challenge owners in the Turing’s Data Study Groups from December 2018 to March 2020. These collaborative hackathons bring together academia and industry to tackle real-world data science challenges in a unique setting.

Dr. Sebastian Vollmer, Director of Data Study Groups at the Turing, described the Data Study Group as a distinctive platform where a diverse community of data science experts collaborates to seed follow-up research and translational activities. The initiative fosters innovation by engaging talent ranging from PhD students to leading academics, enabling participants to trial cutting-edge research methods and gain fresh perspectives.

Dr. Jeremy Silver, CEO of Digital Catapult, expressed enthusiasm about the partnership, emphasizing the UK’s potential to lead in AI and machine learning development. This collaboration exemplifies how start-ups and scale-ups can apply their ideas to address real-world challenges, driving tangible impact and innovation.

The joint effort is part of Digital Catapult’s Machine Intelligence Garage programme, supported by the European Regional Development Fund, aimed at providing AI and machine learning businesses with the technical expertise, computation power, and innovation support needed to thrive in the UK’s AI landscape.

For more information on how to participate as a Challenge Owner, visit the Alan Turing Institute and Digital Catapult’s respective websites.