20/03/2013

IDG Connect Dan Swinhoe (Global) - Research and Development Centres Around the World

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Dan Swinhoe (Global) - Research and Development Centres Around the World
Posted b y Dan Swinhoe Company IDG Connect 03/22/2013

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Nestled somewhere in California, Google's secret X lab s work feverishly on untold numb ers of wondrous projects, b irthing such cool gizmos as self-driving cars and Google Glass, and a rumoured elevator to space. While these kinds of skunkworks projects are rare, there's a growing cornucopia of innovation/R&D centres sprouting up across the world. Some are home-grown government projects, others b acked b y b ig companies seeing opportunities not found elsewhere, b ut they all have one thing in common; the push for new ideas. Here in the UK, London Tech City is the government's flagship tech project. More a reb randing of what was already there, it has nonetheless b rought a host of new companies to East London, some setting up their own R&D centres. Amazon, Virtual Instruments, Vodaphone and Intel have got in on the action, much to Mayor Boris Johnson's delight. Innovation Africa It's not just London that has governments dreaming of b eing major R&D tech hub s. Africa is gaining traction as a future innovation hotspot. Ghana's Hope City aims to b e West Africa's IT hub , including a large IT university. Meanwhile, over in the east, Nairob i is creating its own Silicon Savannah'; Nairob i, already home to a host of R&D centres including Nokia, IBM and Techno Brain, construction has b egun on Konza city, and aims to put Kenya firmly on the tech map. Innovation Centres in Africa

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20/03/2013

IDG Connect Dan Swinhoe (Global) - Research and Development Centres Around the World Partners
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ecs Mob ility Management Cib Security IT Infrastructure Mob ile Phones Data Security Data Management Glob al trends Regional Content Social Media Kenya's b lossoming tech scene is just one in a systemic rise of African tech, one that many predict will only grow in time. Afrilab s is a rough coalition of tech innovation hub s scattered around the continent; from Tunisia to Nigeria to Uganda, Senegal and Zamb ia - this crew proves it's not just multinationals moving in, b ut local ones b ranching out. R&D Asia Further east, many parts of Asia are now amongst an innovation b oom. China and India b oast thousands of R&D centres b etween them. And while once upon a time it was just ab out cutting costs and localising previous ideas, today it's more ab out originality. There are more patents coming out of Indian multinational centres than ever, and China is seeing similar growth. Big companies like FireEye, Apple, Intel, IBM and a host of others have set up shop in the east. A recent Economist report provides a detailed landscape of R&D landscape that can b e summarised as "Asia's role in R&D can only increase." Not All Bright Ideas Questions have b een raised over the protection of intellectual property. Innovation in Chinese culture is often sub ject to shanzhai- copycat innovation. Hoards of cheap imitations flood the market, offering cut-price iPhones & iPads to those who normally couldn't afford them. But despite the fear this concept puts in patent loving multinationals from the US, it might b e not as b ad as all that.The people who b uy these products usually wouldn't b e ab le to afford the authentic originals, and the speed at which these companies work allows for greater flexib ility and localised tweaks. However, the Asian R&D b oom is starting to feel a b acklash when it comes to staffing. Despite the large talent pool, multinational centres are struggling to find recruits, many former employees are leaving to join smaller smart-ups or start their own companies, while the ones who do stay are often b eing poached b y rivals with offerings of huge salaries. A lack of leaders at these centres is also causing prob lems, meaning more higher level workers are b eing drafted in from other countries. Go West The power of Asian innovation is starting to spread. Several Chinese and Indian companies, including Tata Technologies, ZTE and Huawei are all investing in innovation in the west - Huawei even going so far as to open a $90 million R&D centre in Nokia's own b ackyard. This is ob viously just a snapshot. The US is full of innovation centres, as is Israel, Europe and Latin America. Wherever talent develops, R&D centres will inevitab ly follow. Recently Google has gone on record saying the space elevator was a myth, b ut that's not to say other R&D centres elsewhere aren't working on one. If not, someone should start one up. By Dan Swinhoe, Editorial Assistant, IDG Connect Venafi Cloud Computing ILX Group IT Skills CAMM Internet ISACA Data Brocade Social Media Epicor Software Trends Gerdau OtherSA CIO East Africa eDevelopment Resource Centre

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