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DAILY NEWS AND INFORMATION
FOR THE GLOBAL GRID COMMUNITY /
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Systems/Enterprise:
MICROSOFT OPENS INNOVATION CENTER
SUPPORTING EU RESEARCH
Microsoft Corp officially opened the European Microsoft Innovation Center
(EMIC) in Aachen, Germany. The facility, located in a leading European
technology region, serves as the focal point for Microsoft's European
collaborative applied research and development efforts. Microsoft scientists
and engineers at EMIC, in conjunction with academia and industry partners,
will take part in applied research projects such as those sponsored by the
European Commission (EC), national research programs and national governments
in Europe.
EMIC was created to participate in European research and development, which
responds to the EC's call for additional private investment to reach the goal
of the Lisbon agenda: to become the most competitive knowledge-based economy
in the world by 2010.
"Information technology and innovation are essential to achieving the EC's
Lisbon objectives, and we embrace the opportunity to collaborate with public
and private organizations across Europe in pursuit of these shared goals,"
said Jean-Philippe Courtois, CEO of Microsoft Europe, Middle East and Africa
(EMEA). "The EMIC facility demonstrates our passion for innovation and desire
to contribute to the research and development priorities of panregional,
national and local governments."
EMIC applied research falls into three areas -- Web services, security and
privacy technologies, and wireless technologies -- focused on three platforms:
enterprise computing, embedded devices and the extended home. The
collaborative nature of EMIC's work will allow Microsoft to share its
technology expertise and to learn from and develop stronger relationships with
technology partners, universities and governments in Europe.
"The establishment of EMIC in Aachen strengthens a long-standing
relationship
between Microsoft and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia," said Peer
Steinbruck, the minister president of North Rhine-Westphalia. "After less than
one year, EMIC has already made great strides in the research and development
of future technologies for the European market, thus contributing to the
reputation of our region as a European technology hub."
EMIC is already participating in a number of EC co-funded projects,
involving
Web services for e-health and e-learning, security and privacy, and networking
technologies. EMIC is also exploring opportunities for collaborative research
through national governments, including the German government. Current
projects include the following:
- Cocoon will help healthcare professionals reduce risk in their daily
practices. The project aims to create knowledge-driven and dynamically
adaptive networked communities within European healthcare systems and provide
an innovative tool set for risk management.
- The European Learning Grid Infrastructure (E-LeGI) project has the
ambitious goal of developing advanced software solutions for effective human
learning, based on Web services technology.
- TrustCom aims to develop an infrastructure for fruitful
interorganizational
relationships, incorporating trust, security and contract management
technologies. TrustCom will make possible ad hoc integration of systems across
organizational boundaries.
- FIDIS seeks to develop a deeper understanding of how identities and
identity management can create a more fair information society in Europe. The
desired outcome will establish standards and best practices, with applications
in public architecture, related research, and law and information and
communication technology (ICT) applications.
These large-scale, multidisciplinary projects involve a wide variety of
participants throughout Europe, including industry partners such as Atos
Origin, BAE Systems, BT Exact, SAP AG, Siemens Informatica S.P.A and Telecom
Italia; universities such as the University of Aachen (RWTH), the University
of Stuttgart and Politecnico di Milano; and regional governments such as those
of Lombardia, Italy, and Region Aquitaine, France. The collective efforts will
ultimately transfer into products that resolve high-priority issues for
citizens and businesses in Europe.
"Alliances with global companies such as Microsoft are indispensable if we
want to drive innovation in Germany," said Willi Berchtold, chairman of the
German Association for Information Technology, Telecommunication and New Media
(BITKOM). "EMIC's concept of developing future technologies within the scope
of European research partnerships is compelling. It will offer new
opportunities for large-scale as well as small and medium-sized enterprises.
By establishing EMIC in Aachen, Microsoft is helping foster innovation and the
development of ICT talent in Germany."
The EMIC team -- 12 employees increasing to 20 in coming months -- includes
scientists and engineers from seven European countries. The team is led by
Pierre-Yves Saintoyant, who has more than 25 years of experience in research,
teaching and technical consulting. Most recently, Saintoyant was responsible
for Microsoft Research's university relations in Europe; before that, he was
founding director of Microsoft Consulting Services in France. Saintoyant is
the author of numerous papers on information systems strategies and
management. His last book, "Strategie Intranet," was published in 1998.
EMIC expands Microsoft research and development into a new area -- applied
research for collaborative, public-sector programs -- under the executive
sponsorship of Chief Technical Officer Craig Mundie. EMIC complements
Microsoft's existing research and development centers in Europe: fundamental
research at Microsoft Research Cambridge, United Kingdom; software development
at the Vedbaek, Denmark, facility; and product localization at the European
Product Development Center in Dublin, Ireland.
Worldwide, Microsoft is investing 20 percent of its revenue in research and
development -- a figure unmatched in the technology industry -- which is
projected to be $6.8 billion in 2004. Microsoft takes a long-term view,
investing not only in product development but more broadly in fundamental and
applied research across the full spectrum of computer science and software
engineering.
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