UTS partners with NTT on cutting-edge smart city solutions
The University of Technology Sydney has signed a strategic partnership agreement with Japanese technology conglomerate NTT to develop smart city solutions for the state of New South Wales.
Japanese head-quartered NTT has become the latest global tech consulting powerhouse to partner with a leading Australian university, with the firm joining the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) on the development of smart city solutions. The research, to be undertaken at Sydney’s new innovation hub Tech Central, will focus on creating and supporting technologies in sustainability, decarbonisation, and innovative networks.
“With the combined expertise and experience of UTS and NTT, New South Wales can expect innovation driven technologies to meet the evolving needs of our increasingly connected cities,” said Andrew Parfitt, Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of Technology Sydney. “Sydney’s Tech Central is the opportune location for this partnership to thrive and enable, power and integrate new technologies into our communities.”
With the aim of promoting smarter, safer, more inclusive and sustainable cities, the research collaboration will seek to develop cutting-edge digital products and technologies in smart city areas such as telecommunications, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and internet of things.
The strategic partnership will also focus on joint market development for new R&D technology, along with fostering a start-up ecosystem between academics and industry.
Further reading: Research: Australia making progress on its smart city development.
The partners say their first order of business will be to conduct a proof-of-concept for a cryptography information-sharing platform using NTT’s Attribute Based Encryption technology, with the platform to be adopted for internal applications at UTS in collaboration with the university’s technology development unit Rapido. UTS and NTT have previously partnered on cloud-first strategy, including penetration testing to protect data.
“We are delighted to start the new partnership with the University of Technology Sydney,” said NTT Group Senior Executive Vice President Akira Shimada, who has been with the company for over forty years. “Through the partnership with UTS, NTT Group will promote and accelerate open collaborations and innovations to realise safer, smarter cities in New South Wales by leveraging our cutting-edge technologies and smart solutions.”
The consulting – academic link
The hook up is the latest in a string of recent partnership agreements between some of Australia’s top universities and the world’s leading digital consultancies. Deloitte and Accenture have recently signed deals with Adelaide University and the University of South Australia to establish digital academies, while KPMG and the University of Newcastle will create a new tech hub.
IBM is also set to build an innovation hub with Charles Sturt, while DXC is working with Western Sydney University.
