The European Commission and Europe's data industry have committed to invest 2.5 billion euros ($3.2 billion) in a public-private partnership that aims to strengthen the data sector and put Europe at the forefront of the global data race.
A memorandum of understanding on big data has been signed by European Commission vice president Neelie Kroes and president of the Big Data Value Association, Jan Sundelin, who acts on behalf of companies including ATOS, Nokia Solutions and Networks, Orange, SAP, Siemens, and research bodies such as Fraunhofer and the German Research Centre for Artificial Intelligence.
The EU has earmarked over €500 million euros ($640 million) of investment over 5 years (2016-2020) from Horizon 2020 which private partners are expected to match at least four times over.
The partnership will help focus public, private and academic research efforts to support research and innovation in game-changing big data ideas in fields such as energy, manufacturing and health to deliver services like personalized medicine, food logistics and predictive analytics.
By implementing its Strategic Research & Innovation Agenda and concentrating Horizon 2020 support on common priorities, the partnership will strengthen Europe's big data community and help lay the foundations for the thriving data-driven economy of the future. The PPP will also support “Innovation Spaces” that will offer secure environments for experimenting with both private and open data.
These will also act as business incubators and hubs for the development of skills and best practices. The project is due to start due to start in January 2015.