Introducing the University of New Brunswick Cisco Chair in Big Data
A few years ago we announced a $2 million endowment to establish a Cisco® Chair in Advanced Learning Technologies at the University of New Brunswick (UNB). One of the first of our many announcements with Canadian universities over the last three years, our agreement with UNB has always reflected its commitment to being one of the country’s premier institutions for innovation in technology.
Left to Right: Dr. David Coleman, Dean of Engineering, UNB; Rod Murphy, Regional Manager, Cisco Canada; Dr. Monica Wachowicz, Cisco Chair in Big Data, UNB; Mike Ansley, SVP, Cisco Canada; Dr. Eddy Campbell, President, UNB.
And today I had the privilege of representing Cisco as we entered the next stage of our journey with UNB.
This afternoon Dr. Monica Wachowicz was named the Cisco Chair in Big Data at UNB, a milestone which marks a cornerstone in the strategic relationship between Cisco and the University of New Brunswick.
As many readers of our blog know, Cisco has a strong history of working with education in Canada, including chairs and technology initiatives, because we strongly believe it is necessary to stimulate innovation in the country. UNB and Cisco share a dedication to fostering innovation and it’s this mutual vision that has led to today’s announcement.
You may ask why a Chair in Advance Learning became a Chair in Big Data, and that’s an excellent question.
The answer is simple. Together, Cisco and UNB worked together to refine our original agreement in order to maximize the potential for this Chair. We decided Big Data presented a richer and more rewarding area for research.
Why? Because organizations mine vast stores of data for insights that can help identify trends, predict behavior, and empower decision makers. The increase in this type of information – collectively coined Big Data – is largely due to the increasing number of people, businesses, and devices connected to the Internet.
It’s what we at Cisco call the Internet of Everything: connecting the previously unconnected and bringing together people, process, data, and things to make networked connections more relevant and valuable than ever before.
With this unheralded level of connectivity comes massive amounts of information. Researching, analyzing and managing that data is crucial and will inform decision making in ways that were previously unimagined.
As Cisco Chair in Big Data Dr. Wachowicz will promote, support, and lead innovation at the university through industry-linked projects, establish and lead research and innovation in the application of technology to Big Data and lead in the development of an institutional strategy to ensure that UNB is a world leader in the application of technology to implement a Big Data vision and related strategies.
The work done at UNB in Big Data will serve as a valuable resource to Cisco and our partners. It demonstrates UNB’s determination to use technology for positive impact on our lives and will continue to cement UNB’s reputation as a leading innovator.
I extend my congratulations again to Dr. Wachowicz and the University of New Brunswick.
Learn more about the Cisco Chair of Big Data at the University of New Brunswick here, and leave a comment below.
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