BT threw open the doors on a £10 million research and engineering facility focused on boosting digital skills among university students through a series of specialised laboratories.

The DigiTech Centre is a joint project with the UK-based University of Suffolk which BT stated would provide cutting-edge digital skills for people seeking careers in the ICT sector. The facility is based at the operator’s Adastral Park global R&D site and is open to the university’s staff, students and local businesses.

Lisa Perkins, Adastral Park and research realisation director at BT, explained courses offered through the university would help meet “growing demand for people with skills in new technologies such as AI and data science”.

In addition to laboratories, BT explained its R&D site also houses Innovation Martlesham, “a cluster” of more than 100 high-tech digital and technology companies.

The DigiTech Centre is a “major milestone” which will “help supply a rich pipeline of new technology talent” to BT and the surrounding area, Perkins noted.

Mohammad Dastbaz, deputy vice-chancellor of the University of Suffolk, expressed hope the DigiTech Centre would become a “state of the art solution centre for SMEs and other businesses as well as a research and knowledge transfer hub”.

The centre’s laboratories will provide training in “AI, data science, network security and cyber range”, he added.