"It’s a win-win collaboration between the two institutions".

Deakin’s IBM Centre of Excellence in Business Analytics has strengthened its international ties through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with China’s Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University’s (XJTLU) Research Institute of Big Data Analytics.

The MoU was formalised in June at the institutions’ first collaborative event – the International Conference on Big Data Analytics and Business Intelligence (ICBDBI 2017) hosted by  XJTLU – and cements an important alliance between the two leading centres in the fields of big data and business analytics.

‘It represents a unique cross-regional “sister-centre” partnership. It’s a win-win collaboration between the two institutions, leveraging the existing resources and coverage to a greater height and wider community,’ says Dr William Yeoh (Director for Deakin’s IBM Centre for Excellence in Business Analytics).

Deakin’s IBM Centre of Excellence in Business Analytics was launched in 2012 as a partnership between the university and IBM to meet the growing demand for highly-skilled analytics workers.

Dr Yeoh says that higher education institutions continue to be at the forefront of the big data revolution.

‘In fact, Deakin is the first university in Australia to offer Master of Business Analytics that is now accredited by Australian Computer Society. A number of other Australian-based universities are following suit and currently providing a plethora of postgraduate programs in business analytics, data science and data analytics, too.’

The partnership with XJTLU offers an international platform that engages both institutions in innovative cross-regional analytics education, research and collaboration.

‘It also facilitates XJTLU and Deakin staff and students in cross-cultural analytics understanding through joint workshops, certification programs and hybrid conferences,’ explains Dr Yeoh.

Next year, the ICBDBI will be co-hosted by Deakin in Melbourne.

‘Based on the sister-centre foundation, a virtual consortium of related institutions and businesses will be formed to further leverage the networks and efforts, contributing towards greater advancement of the data technology and analytics field,’ says Dr Yeoh. ‘Joint certification programs for data technology practitioners and students have also been discussed.’

The MoU signing ceremony photo (L-R: Dr William Yeoh, Director for Deakin’s IBM Centre of Excellence in Business Analytics; Dr Tristan Chong, Deputy Director of XJTLU’s Research Institute of Big Data Analytics; Professor Dennis Wong, Deputy Provost of Heriot-Watt University (Malaysia campus); Professor Steven Guan, Director of XJTLU’s Research Institute of Big Data Analytics)

A snapshot of the ICBDBI2017 Conference at XJTLU