Hitachi chooses Citylabs for big data project
TECHNOLOGY group Hitachi has established a “European big data laboratory” at Citylabs, Manchester Science Partnerships’ (MSP) block at the former Royal Eye Hospital.
The facility, launched by Chancellor George Osborne in September, consists of 100,000 sq ft life sciences office and lab space in Oxford Road.
Hitachi’s work at Citylabs will focus on disease prevention and improving the quality of patient care in the UK, through the study of data-intensive health science and digital technologies. It has taken around 1,500 sq ft.
Rowena Burns, chief executive at Manchester Science Partnerships, said: “Centrally located on Europe’s largest clinical academic campus, Citylabs is perfectly placed as a gateway to investment, offering unique opportunities for innovation and collaboration, at the heart of a mature and growing biomedical business cluster.
“We are absolutely delighted that a global player like Hitachi has chosen Citylabs as an ideal home for their ground-breaking work in healthcare innovation.”
Massimiliano Lenardi, Manchester’s laboratory manager and senior researcher at Hitachi Europe, said: “We initially established our Big Data Laboratory during 2013 within The University of Manchester campus. At that time a small location was chosen to launch the project where Hitachi could co-innovate with local partners. However, it then became apparent we needed a larger and newer space. Citylabs is a fantastic location to be working from and we are looking forward to continuing our work on social innovation within the healthcare domain.”
So far Citylabs is around 70% full with the largest letting, around 40,000 sq ft, to Icon Developments which handles the analysis and development of programs that support clinical development. Diagnostics firm Elucigene has taken 9,000 sq ft, Manchester College 6,500 sq ft and the NHS Trust Charity 3,500 sq ft.
