IBM to employ 500 at new Canadian analytics centre

IBM has also arranged with a consortium of six universities and colleges to offer employment to students.

IBM will collaborate with Dalhousie University, St Mary’s University, St Francis Xavier, Acadia University, Cape Breton University and the Nova Scotia Community Colleges to educate students on analytics and application development to create a workforce.

The firm currently has similar centres in three dozen countries offering data analytics and business intelligence services to customers. John Lutz (pictured), president of IBM Canada, said: “Establishing a Global Delivery Centre in Canada has been on our radar for some time. From talent and technology, a provincial partnership approach, and competitive business costs, there is no question that Nova Scotia will be key to our Global Delivery Centre’s long-term success.”

IBM has invested heavily in acquiring data analytics companies over the past two years, spending more than $14bn on buying companies including SPSS, Coremetrics and Netezza.