A Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) between Cardiff Metropolitan University and the independent, no-nonsense technical marketing agency Yard Associates Ltd has rated an A Grade by Innovate UK.
The successful project was part-funded by Welsh Government and focussed on developing an adaptive web analytics framework for predicting future purchasing behaviours and recommended marketing strategies based on attributed visitor history and interaction data.
Matthew Taylor, Director of Innovation at Cardiff Met said: "We are delighted that this partnership has been recognised as a Grade A top rated KTP. Bringing our expertise in data science from our School of Technologies to work on a challenging real-world project enables the University to ensure the content of our degree programmes is highly relevant to the needs of modern businesses. We look forward to further developing our relationship with Yard Associates Ltd, with a number of projects already in the pipeline."
The partnership capitalised on the knowledge within the company and the expertise of Cardiff Met academics (Dr Simon Thorne and Dr Chaminda Hewage) from the Cardiff School of Technologies to develop and test an adaptive web analytics framework.
The partnership capitalised on the knowledge within the company and the expertise of Cardiff Met academics from the Cardiff School of Technologies to develop and test an adaptive web analytics framework. The initial KTP proposal set out an ambitious plan with high targets for sales, profit and company growth and the project surpassed the grandest expectations. The technological, process and cultural changes embedded during the project have left a legacy that has had a significant influence on the way the business now operates.
Paul Newbury, Director of Yard Associates Ltd stated: "Yard has benefited from the fundamental changes seen in the business, notably the eagerness to gain the knowledge sharing provided by the KTP scheme. This has resulted in the business undertaking a number of new projects with Cardiff Met and a number of the Company's staff are undertaking new and more stretching courses of training and development".
Cardiff Met graduate Max Cheetham, a KTP Associate now employed by Yard Associates Ltd said: "This KTP has been a huge springboard to the start of my career. By allowing me not just to gain experience in industry related skill sets, but to also spend time improving my management, planning, and researching skills".
This partnership between the University and Yard Associates Ltd has grown substantially since starting the KTP, with a number of high-profile steams of work now being undertaken, including a new KTP, two KESS2 PhD projects and other projects. These will be exciting collaborations between Yard, Cardiff Met and a number of other local organisations and will draw heavily on the expertise of academics within the School of Technologies.
Professor Jon Platts, Dean of Cardiff School of Technologies praised the academic team that supported this award-winning work saying, "This is a good case study of the benefits that can come from the teaming of academics and industrial partners, addressing real world applied problems. My congratulations to all the teams on this well-deserved accolade."
For more information about Knowledge Transfer Partnerships within Cardiff Met and how you can get involved please visit www.cardiffmet.ac.uk/ktp or contact ktp@cardiffmet.ac.uk
To read this story in Welsh, click here.
