We are proud to announce our long-term partnership with The University of Buckingham, becoming an Academic Partner as part of the University’s Knowledge Exchange Partnership Programme.

The partnership will involve the research and development of AI-based systems for big data analysis, allowing for the application of academic research to support real-life business challenges that Zizo is working on, with impactful industry outcomes. These opportunities will also enable students to gain insightful, hands-on work experience in the field, guided by experts from our team.

Dr Harin Sellahewa, Dean of Computing at the University of Buckingham comments: “Collaborative partnerships provide unique opportunities for students to benefit from higher education. Our aim is to work with Zizo to expose students and postgraduates from the University of Buckingham to the forces that are thriving us as an industry, with business challenges to solve, so that they can go back into the academic environment, and on to future employment, understanding what the hurdles are and how they can be overcome.”

Our first undergraduate projects begin in February, and we are pleased to announce that we have a recent, first class graduate joining us as a Junior consultant here in Milton Keynes.

Peter Ruffley, CEO of Zizo explains: “Our partnership with the University, underpinned by its industry-leading research and expertise, will enable us to present our innovative solutions with more authority on cutting edge problems and further push the boundaries of what is possible in the space. It also offers an ideal opportunity to work with students to experiment and build prototype concepts before embarking on a full-scale project. It’s refreshing to mentor undergraduates and postgraduates at university who are motivated and passionate to investigate solutions for tangible business challenges. And with the University’s ground-breaking computing and AI centre set to be completed in 2021, we’re excited to see how our partnership can develop even further.”

Zizo worked with the students throughout 2019 in helping to review their projects and provide feedback about the potential business applications of their ideas. Peter continues: “We want to support the students in being able to realise their potential and prepare for their future careers. We are at the forefront of an industry that is advancing at a rapid pace and this partnership will not only help us to advance our offering as a business, but also work in collaboration with some of the brightest minds to solve unprecedented business challenges.”

We are also proud to be sponsoring two, annual awards, ‘The Zizo Award for the Best Undergraduate Project’ and the ‘Ruffley Award for Best Postgraduate Project at the University of Buckingham’s End of Year Awards’.  Dr Tom Longshaw, Director of Research and Development at Zizo, has and will continue to give guest lectures.