Belfast firm seals National Gallery deal ahead of Big Data conference

BELFAST-based tech firm Analytics Engines has secured a new three-year contract with The National Gallery.

The deal, which is expected to enable the London visitor attraction to obtain more insights into its visitors, was confirmed ahead of the Big Data conference in Belfast today.

Casey Scott-Songin, senior manager of data and insight at The National Gallery, will be among the keynote speakers at the event at Belfast’s ICC (Waterfront Hall), which runs from 9am until 5pm.

Other speakers at the one-day tech event include Mark Briers from the Alan Turing Institute, Ben Dressler from Spotify, and Liverpool FC’s lead data scientist William Spearman.

Thrilled: Grainne Watson

Analytics Engines employs 20 people with expertise in data engineering, artificial intelligence and machine learning, as well as in data analytics and visualisations.

Welcoming the new partnership, Grainne Watson from the firm said: “We are thrilled to have been selected to help The National Gallery utilise their data insights and build on their reputation as one of the UK’s most digitally progressive as well as impressive visitor attractions.”

Meanwhile, Ulster University has secured a £5m investment in memory of one of the founding fathers of data analytics.

Angela Moore, the wife of Dr George Moore, has donated the funds to further enhance the university’s impact as a global data analytics centre of excellence in memory of her husband.

It will enable the establishment of the Dr George Moore Chair in Data Analytics.

The Chair will fund an academic to lead an innovative research team responding dynamically to the real-world needs of data analytics.

Ulster University said it will recruit an associated research fellow and three PhD students to carry out the research.