Ottawa, ON – IBM and the Telfer School of Management at the University of Ottawa today announced IBM is increasing its investment in the Ottawa-based Centre for Business Analytics and Performance the two organizations created in April 2010.

Building on early academic and research success, the new IBM investment of $7.9 million in business analytics software will help accelerate research around situational, social media, healthcare operations and ecological/environmental monitoring. It will also aid in the continued preparation of curriculum to help students gain relevant skills for careers in key industries such as health care, green infrastructure, clean energy and utilities, education, transportation and public service. This amount brings the total investment by IBM to close to $12 million.

Throughout the past year, IBM and Telfer have successfully advanced the Centre’s mandate as follows:

  • Over 100 students have participated in courses on business analytics and performance management using software supplied by IBM
  • The Telfer School of Management has collaborated with the University of South Australia in Adelaide and Fordham University in New York to develop a two-day executive education course to teach practicing managers how to work with data and conduct appropriate analysis within their organizations. The course will be launched for students at the Telfer School in the fall of 2011.
  • Beginning in May the Centre will provide a series of research seminars for other researchers and industry representatives to highlight current research efforts and provide a collaborative environment to spark ideas for future innovation.
  • The Centre has created four key areas of focused research:
    • Situational Analytics: Developing a methodology for defining and delivering analytics in decision ready formats for managers across industries.
    • Social Media Analytics: Examining the influence of social media by integrating external data from social media sites into relevant information managers can use to make informed business decisions.
    • Healthcare Operations: Working with practitioners to conduct research that makes health care processes and resource allocation more efficient.
    • Ecological and Environmental Monitoring: An emerging research group focused on ways to create/evolve “Citizen Scientists” to help monitor ecological issues such as diversity and emissions.

“Canada needs to continue to develop open, collaborative approaches to research and development that increases our competitiveness on the world stage," said Rob White, director, IBM Ottawa lab site and vice-president Business Analytics Mergers and Acquisitions, IBM. "This cross-industry collaboration uses global insight to advance innovation and ultimately help Ottawa students better compete for the new higher value, high paying jobs that demand analytics skills coupled with business management insight.”

“Our first year was really focused on setting up the research areas and laying the groundwork for new course material. We've been successful in building a very strong collaborative network between Telfer and the School of Information Technology and Engineering that has really helped to attract excellent researchers in all of the research areas. Moving forward, we plan to expand the research network to other faculties at the University of Ottawa and to other universities who have an interest in the field of analytics. The idea is to leverage brain power as much as we can from wherever we can to make a difference in our respective communities” said Dr. Greg Richards, Professor of Performance Management, Telfer School of Management.

IBM business analytics software [This link is no longer available] is used in organizations worldwide to sift through huge volumes of data from inside and outside the organization and better integrate operations and financial systems. The software helps organizations sense, respond and predict relevant market and business trends in real-time. This results in better decisions, more efficient operations and improved business performance.

Background - About the IBM Centre for Business Analytics and Performance:

The IBM Centre for Business Analytics and Performance was established in April of 2010 when IBM and the Telfer School invested more than $4.8 million in cash and in-kind time of IBM research and development, software, services, consulting and support staff.

The Telfer School of Management at the University of Ottawa offers undergraduate and graduate programs in English and French across business and health management, forging strong links with business and community leaders to improve the quality of programs and research. The Telfer School is one of only 3 business schools in Canada with all three international accreditations (AACSB, AMBA and EQUIS).

IBM has invested more than $14 billion in the last five years in organic investments as well as 25 strategic acquisitions to build its business analytics capabilities. IBM has garnered over 500 patents and dedicated more than 8000 analytics consultants with industry expertise worldwide to this area. The IBM Academic Initiative also offers no charge access to online resources to help more than 4,600 universities and community colleges worldwide cultivate competitive business and IT skills to meet the needs of new and emerging industries.