Pivotal, the spinoff initiative from EMC and VMware, has set up a Big Data Analytics Centre of Innovation (COI) in Singapore to help customers accelerate big data analytics initiatives by delivering prototypes and products with local infocomm companies for user organisations that prove the feasibility and return on investment of these projects. This is part of a wider collaboration with the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) which is geared towards developing Singapore as a big data hub for the region.

Speaking at the launch of the Pivotal COI on 22 October, Ms Jacqueline Poh, Managing Director of IDA, noted that the ICT industry plays a critical role in the data analytics ecosystem, both in inspiring confidence in user organisations and in developing talent to constantly deliver value from data innovations.

“As Singapore government agencies and enterprises leverage data to drive business innovation and address national challenges, we need the ICT industry to build up strong capabilities in capturing, moving and interpreting data to deliver our Smart Nation,” she said. “If we can build up our capabilities in data analytics, and apply them on Singapore use cases, we expect that we can open up large export opportunities for our data and analytics products and services.”

Ms Poh said the launch of the Pivotal Big Data Analytics COI was an important step in achieving this ambition.

The Pivotal COI provides a collaborative space where Pivotal data scientists can work directly with customers and partners to develop operational advanced predictive models within a short period of time, without having to make large investments. Customers get access to Pivotal hardware and software as well as an infrastructure and test bed that they can use to experiment and conduct proof of concepts.

As Ms Melissa Ries, Pivotal’s Vice President and General Manager, Asia Pacific and Japan, pointed out, “Businesses will now have a space, the infrastructure and the help of Pivotal experts to solve advanced problems through a working proof of concept without the risk of a failed high-cost initiative.”

The Pivotal COI will also help meet the emerging demand for analytics professionals by providing training and activities devoted to developing Singapore’s workforce. A two-month full-time Cloud Architect and Data Scientist attachment will help groom homegrown analytics talents by enabling them to acquire structured training and project-based expertise.

“We view data as the resource of the 21st century that has enormous potential to improve productivity and economic competitiveness,” said Ms Poh. “We also believe that Singapore has the right conditions to position ourselves as a world leader in data innovation, as a Smart Nation where government, businesses and citizens make better use of data to derive economic value and to create a better life for our people.”