Telenor Group partners with Boston-based Northeastern University on two projects within the use of ‘Big Data’ in telecommunication

Fornebu, Norway, 3-5-2013 — /europawire.eu/ — Telenor Group has recently signed a cooperation agreement with Northeastern University, a private research institution in Boston, USA. The cooperation will cover two projects within the use of ‘Big Data’ in telecommunication.

“Our cooperation with Northeastern University exemplifies the open innovation model that are pursuing in the Telenor Group. By joining forces and sharing knowledge and ideas, we can bring our research to a higher level and increase its impact and benefit for our business, partners and customers,” says Hilde Tonne, Executive Vice President and Head of Industrial Development at Telenor Group.

The partnership with the renowned research University is the first for the Telenor Group in the United States.

Viral spreading

The two projects are good examples of applied research. The first project looks at viral spreading. In collaboration with David Lazer, a professor of political science and computer and information science at Northeastern, the Telenor team is analysing how products or services spread in socially connected groups. The research has already started in one of the Telenor companies in Asia, while another pilot in Europe will launch this summer.

Predicting success

The second project is about “predicting success.” For this project, Telenor is co-operating with Dashun Wang, a Ph.D. student in Northeastern’s Center for Complex Network Research, on predicting service or product adoption based on a very short initial phase of sales performance.

Beyond data donation

“Our partnership with Northeastern represents a new model of cooperation. We are participating in research, rather than just limiting our contribution to a pure data donation. Big data is our focus area and it is important for our researchers to exchange ideas and develop relations with the top scientists in this field,” says Bjørn Taale Sandberg, Head of Research and Future Studies at Telenor Group.

Contact

Tor Odland, VP Group Media, tel.: +47 990 90 872, email: tor.odland@telenor.com