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August 15, 2014
Award Recognises Intersect’s Pioneering Role in Helping Researchers Develop New Treatments With Data-Driven Research Innovation
Sydney - August 15, 2014 - Hitachi Data Systems Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd. (TSE: 6501) today announced that Intersect Australia, Australia's largest full-service e-research support agency, was awarded the APAC Health and Life Sciences Innovation Award. The award recognises Intersect’s achievements in fostering collaboration, innovation and efficiencies in the medical research sector.
To support hundreds of big data collections and thousands of research projects, Intersect has teamed with Hitachi Data Systems. Together they have created a fully integrated infrastructure solution to enable research outcomes.
Through the partnership with HDS, Intersect is able to facilitate research collaboration in areas as vital and diverse as medical research, astrophysics, environmental modelling and monitoring, cultural heritage protection, and many others. Research data hosted on the Intersect facility is accessible through a secure multitenant content cloud that enables file sharing, databases and applications via a virtual portal on a Hitachi storage system. The facility is tightly integrated with Intersect’s large-scale computing platforms, allowing Intersect to provide a world leading, unified service that supports its members’ diverse research activities. It is also connected via a dedicated, high-speed network through AARNet to Australia's research infrastructure making possible effective and efficient national and international collaboration.
One initiative that illustrates what Intersect’s use of HDS solutions can bring to the health and life science community is the Australian Breast Cancer Tissue Bank (ABCTB). The ABCTB is a breast cancer research resource that is supported by a collaborative network of cancer clinicians and researchers, with the aim to improve outcomes for breast cancer patients. It is Australia’s only large-scale collection of specimens and data dedicated to sporadic breast cancer. These data collections comprise scans of tissue samples, associated clinical information and high-resolution images of tumour sections. The associated data can total up to 50 terabytes (TB). As a result, the ABCTB improved the availability of quality research for sharing and re-use among authorised researchers and clinicians, improved research efficiency, and reduced institutional data storage costs.
Intersect CEO, Dr. Ian Gibson, said: "The Intersect facility allows leading research institutions such as the Westmead Millennium Institute, which houses the Australian Breast Cancer Tissue Bank, to solve big data problems that involve geographically dispersed clinicians and research teams. The reliability, robustness and scale out capabilities of the Hitachi Data Systems infrastructure let us provide an ideal platform of high value services to research groups. This makes it possible for our researchers to securely store and share their data with collaborating partners, and to meet their various legislative and compliance requirements.”
He added, “Hitachi Data Systems and Intersect share a commitment and dedication to R&D and innovation. We are honoured to receive the Health and Life Sciences Innovation Award in recognition of the benefits that data driven research can bring to society as a whole."
Neil Evans, vice president and country manager, Hitachi Data Systems Australia, New Zealand and Pacific Islands, said: "The Hitachi Data Systems Health and Life Sciences Innovation Award recognises the unique contributions of innovators in the medical community and the patients they serve. By supporting important medical research projects such as Australian Breast Cancer Tissue Bank, Intersect allows researchers from around the country to collaborate on significant national data sets, lower the cost of information management and storage, and ultimately transform lives.”
The Intersect facility is funded by the Research Data Storage Infrastructure (RDSI) Project, an initiative of the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy, which is funded from the Education Investment Fund under the Super Science (Future Industries) initiative. It is supported through Intersect member university contributions and the NSW Government through AU$1M via the Science Leveraging Fund.
Hitachi Data Systems provides information technologies, services and solutions that help companies improve IT costs and agility, and innovate with information to make a difference in the world. Our customers gain compelling return on investment (ROI), unmatched return on assets (ROA), and demonstrable business impact. With approximately 6,300 employees worldwide, Hitachi Data Systems does business in more than 100 countries and regions. Our products, services and solutions are trusted by the world's leading enterprises, including more than 70% of the Fortune 100 and more than 80% of the Fortune Global 100. Visit us at www.hds.com/anz/.
Hitachi, Ltd. (TSE: 6501), headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, delivers innovations that answer society's challenges with our talented team and proven experience in global markets. The company's consolidated revenues for fiscal 2013 (ended March 31, 2014) totaled 9,616 billion yen ($93.4 billion). Hitachi is focusing more than ever on the Social Innovation Business, which includes infrastructure systems, information & telecommunication systems, power systems, construction machinery, high functional materials & components, automotive systems, healthcare and others. For more information on Hitachi, please visit the company's website at www.hitachi.com.
Philippa Giles
PR and Communications Manager
Australia and New Zealand
D: +61 (0)2 9325 3571
M: +61 (0)407 388 815
philippa.giles@hds.com
Hitachi Data Systems
Level 3, 82 Waterloo Road
North Ryde
Sydney, NSW, 2113, Australia
