The University of Technology (UTS) in Sydney has established Australia's first business intelligence and information management research unit with the financial support of Data Agility.

The unit will help organisations solve complex business problems through the investigation of data. Data Agility managing director, John Neville, said the research services will focus on interpreting, manipulating and analysing an organisation's data.

By doing this an organization can discover new commercial value by leveraging data more effectively. Speaking at the launch of the new commercial research venture today, Neville said organisations are accumulating vast amounts of data and seeking answers to questions buried in their data to boost business performance. "This research unit offers organisations access to leading-edge business intelligence and information management research to investigate and resolve business issues by discovering hidden gems of knowledge available in their data,' he said. "The service will enable companies to test the commercial value of their data 'theories' through the design of outcomes before embarking on full-scale data projects.

"For example a financial institution with flat revenue growth for a product line could uncover new data insights on customer segmentation and apply this knowledge to further increase revenues." Based within the Faculty of Information Technology's state-of-the-art facilities on the UTS city campus, research projects will be overseen by the Dean of IT, Tom Hintz and Professor Eng Chew.

It will be staffed by a cross-disciplinary team of UTS researchers and Data Agility's principal consultants. Neville said a number of clients have already identified research projects that will commence in coming months and the initial focus will be targetting public sector organizations.

UTS Dean of IT Tom Hintz said the unit combines the university's own internationally renowned research experts in the field of business intelligience with Data Agility's expertise in data management.

"Customers will gain greater insight into their organization to enhance business performance," Hintz added.

The UTS Faculty of IT has an international reputation for research in the IT industry, and is recognised as a leader in developing emerging technologies.

It is home to leading research in areas such as distributed knowledge discovery and intelligence and software engineering. The faculty was responsible for developing a technology to detect fraudulent behaviour with banking records. Data Agility specialises in data warehouse and integration as well as data migration and conversion.

Customers include NAB, ANZ, Hagemeyer, Epworth Hospital and South East Water.