Whitespace’s R&D investment in new AI software pays off

14 Jun 2021

Image: © putilov_denis/Stock.adobe.com

The research, design and engineering company has won two multimillion-pound contracts following investment in R&D.

London-headquartered Whitespace, which has operations in Belfast, has secured a £4m global partnership contract and another multimillion-pound contract with a UK government ministry.

The company’s Belfast office has invested more than £450,000 to develop a new AI-powered product, Eamli (expert augmented machine learning intelligence).

Eamli is an engine that uses AI to help augment and inform decisions on best business practice and objectives in both the public and private sectors. It was developed with £154,000 of support from Invest NI.

Whitespace’s COO and head of engineering, Glenn McClements, said Eamli helps with decision-making using machine learning to improve accuracy and analysis.

“By providing data and forecasts that can be altered based on business changes, companies can strategically use this information to grow,” he said.

“Invest Northern Ireland has supported us in many ways, helping us to develop our Eamli product through its R&D assistance and to scale at pace. Over the years, our Belfast team has developed an abundance of skills, which made Belfast the perfect location to further develop Eamli.”

Invest NI’s CEO, Kevin Holland, described Whitespace as an innovative SME that has grown quickly in recent years.

“With our latest R&D support combined with the expertise of its Belfast team, the company has developed an innovative AI product that is already presenting opportunities to compete on the global stage,” he said.

“The company’s multimillion contracts, and the growing partnership opportunities, are testament to the importance of investing in R&D and is a strong endorsement of the company’s Eamli product offering.”

Whitespace is one of IBM’s partners in its automation portfolio, which helps its customers streamline business processes and automation tasks-based on data analysis.

At the time of the partnership announcement, Andrew Webber, Whitespace’s chief of marketing and client relations said: “I know Whitespace and IBM are a great combination, simply because our business culture and approach fully align.”

Jenny Darmody is the editor of Silicon Republic

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