Royal College of Art partners with Tata to create UK design innovation lab
The Royal College of Art (RCA) has partnered with IT services group Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) to create a design innovation lab to help foster design and technology innovation in the UK.
The new lab, which will be located on the RCA’s South Kensington campus in Central London, will develop and deliver joint research projects that fuse design, technology and business, with the goal of filing joint patents and publications.
A number of projects are already being worked on by the RCA and TCS, including development of a contactless payment concept for a TCS customer and studies focusing on the use of design within insurance and retail.
Dr Paul Thompson,director of The RCA, said: “The TCS-RCA design innovation lab will give our researchers the facilities and resources they need to explore new areas of research and test their theories with TCS’s impressive list of international clients looking for the best technology, design and data solutions.”
The facility is due to open officially in September 2015. Upon completion students on internships and researchers on sabbaticals will also be hosted in the lab.