Research to reflect role of services in Intel's market model

LONDON — Intel Corp. has opened the first of two labs that will form the hub of its Intel Labs Europe (ILE) network and the agenda for ILE shows how Intel is moving forward from its hardware roots through software and out to providing services.

The mission of the Intel Open Lab Munich, Germany, is enhance synergies between research and innovation that can be converted into commercial opportunities, strengthening existing businesses and creating new ones, Intel said. The company did not state whether Intel was spending any additional money to fund the German lab.

Intel said that intensifying research collaborations with European industry and academia will both improve Europe’s and Intel’s competitiveness. The Munich laboratory is set to cooperate with its sister lab in Leixlip, Ireland.

The ILE research agenda is entitled "From sand to circuits to society" and, according to Intel, it strengthens Intel’s traditional areas of research and extends innovation into new markets, such as services.

"Fostering innovation, driving research and improving education is on top of Intel’s agenda. This should also be the model for economies at large and be the focus of what we do when we talk about finding ways out of the current crisis," said Craig Barrett, Intel chairman, in a statement.

Intel dropped other hints in November 2008 when it announced plans to sell systems, software and services to health care providers. And meanwhile Intel Leixlip has been recruiting for an intern, presumably unpaid, to do social science research on ethnography, which is the scientific description and study of human cultures, This research had particular regard to how different cultures relate to different forms of medical care delivery.

Related articles:

Intel rolls health care system and service

Analysis: Intel could kill two birds with one R&D stone

Intel forms Intel Labs Europe with hubs in Dublin, Munich