The latest development in the partnership between Siemens and Newcastle University (www.ncl.ac.uk) — the MindSphere Lab — has been opened to accelerate digitalisation and boost skills.

It will form part of Siemens’ MindSphere Innovation Network (MINe), extending the university’s work to gather data from a number of projects in sectors that include infrastructure, manufacturing, water and energy.

Students, academics, industry partners and Siemens (www.siemens.com) experts will be able to use the lab to access data produced by the university and the various projects connected to the cloud-based platform around the world.

It will interface with the university’s estate and cyber-physical research assets and make this data available to improve teaching and research collaborations between academics and industry partners, to uncover new business models, create commercial opportunities through digitalisation, and build evidence for change in how we manage our environment.

Based in the university’s Urban Sciences Building — a ‘living laboratory’ on the Newcastle Helix (formerly Science Central) site — the software will connect into the building’s network of sensors that provide more than 60 updates per sec on occupancy, energy and water demand, lighting and temperature.

Juergen Maier, CEO of Siemens UK, said: “Using digital technologies to transform business operations is key for the UK to drive competitiveness, improve national productivity and take advantage of the commercial opportunities offered by an increasingly digitalised industry.

"We believe this innovative network is helping universities, business and communities to translate research into life-changing real-world impact.”