HNA Group and Imperial College London Establish the HNA Future Data Ecosystem Research Centre at Imperial College London to Innovate Digital Transformation

LONDON, June 29, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- On June 28th, HNA Technology, HNA Economy Research Institute and Imperial College London held the cooperation signing ceremony in London. HNA Technology has supported the establishment of 'Imperial College London HNA Future Data Ecosystem Research Centre' at the College's Data Science Institute with three million pounds in funding. HRH Duke of York, Prince Andrew was invited to the ceremony, whilst Mr. Ying  Lu, Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of HNA Group, Mr. Fu Tong, Director of the Board of Directors of HNA Group and  Chairman of HNA Technology Group, Mr. Shengwei Miao, President of HNA Economic Research Institute, Mr. Hao Wang, Chief Investment Officer of HNA Technology Group,  Professor Nick Jennings, Vice-Provost Imperial College London, Professor. Yike Guo, Director of Data Science Institute, and other representatives were in attendance.  

The duration of this cooperation is five years. HNA Economic Research Institute, HNA Technology and Imperial College London have co-founded the 'HNA Future Data Ecosystem Research Centre at Imperial College London'. Aiming at the three main fields of block chain technology, data asset and data product innovation, and artificial intelligence, they will develop cooperations in projects such as "Next generation data asset management platform", "Industry-leading big data platform" and "Next generation machine intelligence platform". Meanwhile, HNA Technology and Imperial College London will conduct an in-depth cooperation in expertise training. It will be a new milestone which will mark the talent cooperation between HNA and world-leading tertiary education institutions.

Imperial College London is the world's leading research university in science and engineering fields. It holds high prestige in the academic world. As the academic pioneer and professor of Imperial College London, Professor Yike Guo, is an expert in big data and machine learning. Professor Guo highlighted the achievement and prospects of big data applications to President Jinping Xi during his visit to the UK in 2015.

Pointing at the cooperation between HNA Technology and Imperial College London, Professor Guo expressed that HNA Technology holds advantages in technology, capital and market capabilities. Together, with Imperial College London's top scientific research and development platform,  the advantages will be strengthened to achieve mutual benefits and a win-win situation.

Mr. Ying Lu, Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of HNA Group, made a speech in the ceremony. He expressed that HNA is a large multinational conglomerate encompassing technology, tourism, capital, holdings, modern logistics, innovative finance, and innovation media & entertainment  industry groups. Cooperating with Imperial College London would be a win-win cooperation that promotes the innovation capabilities of HNA and its development of global technology.

Mr. Fu Tong, Director of the Board of Directors of HNA Group and Chairman of HNA Technology Group, was subsequently interviewed. In the interview, he said that HNA Technology has taken the strategic transformation mission of HNA Group. Prospecting the future with an open and innovative mind, HNA Technology puts its emphasis on the trend of future development and the cutting-edge technologies of big data, block chain and artificial intelligence, to enhance its core international competitiveness . The cooperation will leverage its mutual advantages in the collaboration fields, and will magnify invaluable data assets accumulated from industries. This cooperation reflects a strategic move of HNA Technology in its ambition to  become one of the world-class innovation and technology enterprises.

Based on block chain technology and advanced platforms such as the HNA cloud ecology platform, and its rich experience in enterprise development, HNA Technology has owned rich industrial resources and invaluable data assets. Imperial College London is equipped with excellent research capabilities in big data, machine learning and block chain technology. The two parties will conduct close collaborations, and the R&D achievement would be transfered into real-world applications. Thus we are expecting our  in-depth collaboration will bring the technology breakthrough a reality.

In terms of big data and artificial intelligence, HNA Technology will build up the world-leading big data platform for mass data storage and processing capacity, as well as the next generation intelligent machine intelligence platform. The big data platform will be applied to future medical and health services, while the machine intelligence platform will be applied to various fields,to bring brand new, intelligent, interactive experiences.

HNA Technology, as the practitioner of HNA Group's digital transition, has committed itself to become a world class innovation technology company. Besides its remarkable business achievements, including acquiring Ingram Micro and investing in RocketSpace, this cooperation will bring significant breakthroughs in global business cooperation. Through this cooperation, HNA will strengthen its own technological capability, transforming business models through data economics and releasing the great potential of HNA's traditional industries. At the same time, the cooperation between HNA Technology and Imperial College London is in line with the country's ' Belt and Road initiative', implementing a perfect engagement between the international industry and tertiary education institutions.

About HNA Technology

Founded in December 2016, HNA Technology is a forward-facing strategic industry group under the Fortune 500 HNA Group. As the largest subgroup of the HNA Group, it takes the responsibility for the mission of strategic transformation of the HNA Group. Innovating business models through the data economy, HNA Technology explores the great potential of HNA's traditional industries. Its business covers more than 160 countries and regions on five continents. Its subsidiaries include the largest IT product distributor and supply chain service provider, Ingram Micro, and the global-leading IT services and solutions provider Pactera.

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SOURCE HNA Technology