Hitachi opens European Big Data Laboratory

Hitachi Europe Ltd. has opened its European Big Data laboratory (“EBDL”) within The University of Manchester Innovation Centre Limited (“UMIC”) to commence proof of concept (“PoC”) projects for improving healthcare using informatics. EBDL is the centre of R&D for Hitachi’s big data business in Europe, and is part of the European R&D Centre of Hitachi Europe, Ltd.

Hitachi is currently expanding its global business focused on “Social Innovation Business” which provides societal infrastructure supported by advanced information and telecommunications systems. In Europe, laboratories and business divisions have worked together in areas such as railway and energy to expand the business. This time, to enhance Hitachi’s healthcare business, a research centre has been opened within UMIC with resident Hitachi researchers to commence the joint projects to be conducted with the National Health Service (NHS) England (Greater Manchester) as announced on September 18, 2013.

The projects aim to achieve an increased quality of life while suppressing medical costs by making full use of IT and big data. Specifically, the projects involve the development and verification of a secure health care data integrated platform and a life-style improvement programme for pre-diabetics. Based on the results from the PoC projects, expansion of Hitachi’s healthcare business to other regions within the U.K., followed by markets in North America and Japan, will be considered.

In addition to healthcare, EBDL will be expanding its activities into the energy and transportation sectors to further develop Hitachi’s business based on big data analytics.