Research scientists and specialists at the University of Iceland and the interactive entertainment company CCP, the company behind EVE-online, are planning a collaboration to evolve new ways for research, communication, teaching and innovation that take into consideration the rapid changes in modern technology. This is stated in a new cooperative agreement that Jón Atli Benediktsson, Rector of the University of Iceland, and Stefanía G. Halldórsdóttir, General Manager at CPP in Iceland, signed on 15 May. The agreement creates, furthermore, numerous opportunities for students at different University Schools.
The contract marks the beginning of the collaboration between the University of Iceland and CCP in many areas, but CCP will move their offices on Campus to Gróska, the new house of ideas in the University's Science Park.
The aim with the new cooperative agreement between the University of Iceland and CCP is to share knowledge, skills, data and facilities that both parties possess. Reserach scientists and specialists at the University and CCP will shape joint research and development projects and expand on the International scene.
Jón Atli Benediktsson, Rector of the University of Iceland welcomes the contract. "I look forward to seeing University scientists and students make use of the knowledge and technology at CCP in their research, but CCP is a leading company in the field of online games, computer graphics and development of virtual reality. The contract opens up new opportunities in interdisciplinary research that will be beneficial to all of the University's schools, humanities, social sciences, health sciences, education and engineering and natural sciences."
Virtual and augmented reality will in the near future have wide societal impact; e.g. revolutionise communication, user experience and modes of production. "This new technology creates new channels in research and we at the University of Iceland place great emphasis on our scientists becoming leaders in adopting this technology in their research and work. We have great expectations for the collaboration with CCP and welcome the move of their offices to campus in a few years, making them a part of the knowledge-based community at the UI Science Park," says Jón Atli.
"The collaboration between CCP and the University has increased considerably in recent years and I believe that its importance will be be even more in the future as the challenges we face in innovation call for an interdisciplinary approach and greater emphasis on communication of knowledge. The University of Iceland is thus an ideal partner and can contribute important academic data and develop diverse new platforms for technology. The technology of tomorrow is created in collaboration and close proximity with industry," says Stefanía Halldórsdóttir, General Manager at CCP in Iceland.