Erasmus Data Collaboratory (EDC) is an inclusive open learning environment for data and AI at Erasmus University Rotterdam. Here everyone can think, work, learn and invent together in the field of data and AI. On 29 October, the EDC hub was opened by Ed Brinksma, chairman of our Executive Board: “This is just the first step. In the intersection between technology, socio-economic and medical sciences, we are and can be a greater leader. And because of this space it will only grow.”
The physical EDC hub has space and facilities for hands-on action learning, action research, experimentation, and valorization, and it facilitates the complete data science cycle, from data engineering to data analysis and including data visualization. The hub on the first floor of Polak Building includes:
- a data lab, equipped with high-quality workstations with high-resolution displays, connected to a cloud infrastructure through fast connections;
- a visualization space, with advanced digital projection facilities;
- a multimedia-equipped boardroom;
- a well-equipped project and meeting rooms, with creative and stimulating tools to support research and education
The Erasmus Data Collaboratory was created by the Erasmus Centre for Data Analytics in partnership with leading tech companies and start-ups. Students from the Erasmus Tech Community and Turing Students Rotterdam for example, can plan and execute their activities in the hub. But the hub will also be the place where students from different education programmes and backgrounds can work with real datasets and data analytics, AI and ML tools.
Creating positive societal impact
The Erasmus Data Collaboratory aims to foster collective creativity to create societal impact. Together we work on the energy transition, resilient deltas, health systems, and on creating smart and inclusive cities. These issues are usually complex and hard to resolve, demanding approaches that are creative, systemic, and divergent. Several partners in the ecosystem of ECDA such as the City of Rotterdam, The Province of South Holland, the Port of Rotterdam and NGOs will come up with societal challenges to work on. These challenges will be linked with pre and post experience programs of EUR, to provide students a hand-on learning experience.
A node in the Convergence Alliance
The Erasmus Data Collaboratory hub will be one of the important physical nodes in the Convergence in AI, data & digitalization. The urgent and complex societal challenges of our time call for the crossing of boundaries between institutes and disciplines to create new perspectives and solutions. For this reason, TU Delft, Erasmus MC and Erasmus University Rotterdam are joining forces in the Convergence Alliance. The cooperation between experts in AI, data and digitalization, and experts who apply AI in another scientific domain, is central.
Source: EUR website.
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