Nedbank funds innovation-focused research chair at University of Johannesburg

Building on a long-standing relationship focused on strengthening the link between academia and industry, Nedbank and the University of Johannesburg (UJ) have collaborated to establish a research chair.

The new Nedbank Research Chair is headed up by Professor Terence van Zyl, a leading figure in data science, artificial intelligence (AI) and big-data research and recipient of the Meraka Institute Innovation Award and CSIR Research and Innovation Einstein Award. The chair is housed within the Institute for Intelligent Systems at UJ and is tasked with undertaking novel research projects in banking-related machine learning, AI, data-driven meta-heuristic optimisation and data science.

According to Ciko Thomas, Managing Executive of Retail and Business Banking at Nedbank, the chair appointment was a natural extension of the ongoing partnership between Nedbank and UJ, one that has focused predominantly on harnessing innovation to unlock and deliver value for both parties.

‘Over the few years, Nedbank and UJ have worked together to advance research, skills, technologies and human capital in the field of data analytics sciences, financial algorithms, cybersecurity and a host of other initiatives. This research chair further aligns the strategy and strengths of both organisations to drive them forward into the Fourth Industrial Revolution,’ says Thomas.

The research chair sponsorship is another illustration of Nedbank’s long-standing commitment to moving beyond being merely being a purchaser of technologies, but rather a pioneer and driver in the adoption of AI and machine learning in South Africa. As modern technology permeates our lives, we are witnessing a significant change in the way the world produces and uses knowledge, harnessing AI and machine learning as well as evolving towards data-driven process automation and optimisation, which presents Nedbank with a disruptive value proposition built on enhancing employee productivity and adding value to its clients way beyond traditional financial services.

The amount of information available to organisations and individuals has moved beyond what is humanly consumable, making research into technologies to exploit these highly valuable data assets vital. The Nedbank Research Chair represents the type of collaboration that is needed between learning institutions and the private sector, as it places both at the forefront of research, development and innovation. This partnership will benefit both Nedbank and the University of Johannesburg as well as education and industry as a whole.

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