Huawei Technologies will be working with the Imperial College London to develop big data technology, a move that will enable the Chinese telecom equipment supplier to expand to the British market. Imperial and Huawei plan to collaborate on a joint R&D hub, enabling academic researchers and business experts to collectively develop innovations and applications in research areas including digital, energy, healthcare, future cities and life sciences. A research and innovation centre will focus on the emergent field of data science as Imperial and Huawei work to harness the latest scientific and technological breakthroughs around big data and translate them into real world applications. The proposed joint centre would be located on Imperial?s new research and translation campus, Imperial West, in White City, West London.

Under the terms of the MoU, Imperial and Huawei have also agreed to spend a year exploring other opportunities for collaboration over the next decade; a joint working party will be established to determine the next stages of the partnership. Options being considered include a 'Huawei-Imperial Joint Innovation Centre' suite, which would be used by Imperial researchers, students and Huawei staff as a meeting and workspace. The suite could also act as a demonstration centre where technology, including Huawei solutions, can be viewed by the public.

"R&D has always been a top priority for Huawei and this continues to be the case as we expand our UK operations," said William Xu, Chief Executive, Enterprise Business Group, Huawei.

Huawei is trying to expand to the European market after failing to enter the US market when the company was blocked by a US congressional report in October 2012, alleging the telecom equipment maker has a military background.

Huawei receives around 70 percent of its revenue from outside Asia.