PGIM Real Estate launched a research and development entity whose goal is to “accelerate advancements in the real asset industry,” according to the company, which defines the industry as real estate and renewable and digital infrastructure.

The venture, RealAssetX, will work with universities and tech companies to develop technologies in the sustainability and artificial intelligence sectors, among others. The goal is to develop these technologies with applications for owners, managers and operators of real estate.

“Investment managers’ success will be defined by their ability to be tech-enhanced through every stage of the investment lifecycle,” PGIM Real Estate co-CEO Raimondo Amabile said in a statement. “RealAssetX is building an ecosystem to develop new technologies that don’t exist today.”

Among other initiatives, RealAssetX will involve building datasets from PGIM Real Estate data and third-party data sources and establishing an incubator and accelerator program for early stage tech.

In the U.S., the entity will partner with the University of Chicago Data Science Institute to focus on big data analysis and AI for predictive analytics to facilitate better investment decisions. In the UK, RealAssetX will partner with University College London to launch the UCL Centre for Sustainability and RealTech Innovation.

PGIM Real Estate has about $210B in assets under management, about 62% of which is in the United States, with smaller stakes in Europe and Latin America.