The Alan Turing Institute and Rolls-Royce sign MoU to develop AI

Business Secretary Greg Clark said: “Advances in science, technology and data are changing the way we live and work. Through our modern Industrial Strategy and its landmark AI Sector Deal, we want to ensure the UK continues to be at the heart of this growing industry, reap the economic benefits and deliver the transformational nature of this technology to people across the country.

“This agreement between The Alan Turing Institute and Rolls-Royce will make a valuable contribution in this pioneering field, bringing together the best minds from both institutions to develop innovative AI solutions of tomorrow.”

Neil Crockett, Chief Digital Officer, Rolls-Royce, commented: “This collaboration is about delivering real-world impact from AI technologies, but on an industrial scale. At Rolls-Royce, we believe that AI is central to unleashing huge value for our customers and from within our own business, and in achieving our goal of pioneering the power that matters.”

“This MoU signals an exciting new phase in Rolls-Royce’s relationship with The Alan Turing Institute. We believe this collaboration will further strengthen Rolls-Royce’s reputation as a world-leading adopter of AI technologies in an industrial context. At the same time, it will support the institute’s position, and thus the UK’s position, as a global centre of excellence for data science and AI.”

The two organisations will work together to co-design and deliver a programme of collaborative research in data science and AI. In particular, jointly-run research projects will explore how data science can be applied at scale; the application of AI across supply chains; data-centric engineering and predictive maintenance; and the role of data analytics and AI in science.

In addition to research and innovation, the two organisations will work together to raise awareness of the importance of data science and AI in building a strong UK economy for the future.

Alan Wilson, CEO of The Alan Turing Institute, said: “Rolls-Royce has a long tradition of investing in some of the best research institutions in the UK and overseas. We share a common goal of shaping the world we live in for the better and I am delighted that the Turing will collaborate with Rolls-Royce in some of our key strategic areas: to develop and apply data science and AI approaches to tackle real world problems, as well as to train future generations in these transformative subjects.”

Collaborative data innovation sits at the heart of Rolls-Royce’s digital strategy. R2 Data Labs, the data innovation arm of Rolls-Royce, already partners with Tata Consultancy Services and Microsoft, two globally-recognised digital service providers. This agreement with The Alan Turing Institute follows recently announced partnerships with IoT Tribe North, Seraphim Space Camp Accelerator and Startupbootcamp, three leading accelerators for tech startups.