Fujitsu says research key to Ireland’s global market strategy

Trade

Fujitsu Laboratories has committed to a series of collaborative Irish research projects over the next three years as a test bed case to inform the global ICT giant’s future strategy. The announcement was made at the inaugural Fujitsu Innovation Gathering held in Croke Park today where over 250 delegates – including leading industry strategists, academics, and state body representatives – met to discuss how Ireland can best position itself to maximise innovation and R&D collaboration to drive commercial success.

Regina Moran, CEO of Fujitsu Ireland (pictured), said: "Fujitsu undertook an R&D investment programme in Ireland in 2010 because we identified home-grown, unique world class research by local institutes that rivals anywhere else in the world. As a global company we are always looking to maximise the opportunities in key ICT growth areas such as future internet, big data, cloud computing and sensor technologies and I am delighted to announce that Irish researchers have been chosen as Fujitsu’s partners of choice.

"Fujitsu’s emphasis is always on human centric technology and value-added research. Collaborative research has been shown to deliver a multiplier effect of up to seven times the return on the initial investment by maximising industry-academia knowledge exchange, shared data and job creation. With the value of the global ICT market estimated at €4.6 trillion in 2009 and a current annual growth rate of 5.5% – the potential industry and Irish economic benefits of tapping into this are enormous."

At the event Fujitsu put forward five recommendations for maximising the commercial return on research investment: The encouragement and extension of investment in collaborative research; the tightening of the skills gap; the developement of New services and the technologies such as health informatics, financial analysis or digital lifestyle management; locating world leading researchers in Ireland; and the alignment of Ireland’s research capabilities to strategic government investments.

TechCentral Reporters

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