Trust Intel Labs Europe

Cynics say it merely wants to curry favour as the European Union’s antitrust procedures grind on. But even as a calculated charm offensive Intel’s revamp of its labs is a convincing model for corporate engagement in R&D.

Talk about bad timing: as Marc Jaeger, President of the Court of First Instance threw out a bid by Intel to delay EU antitrust procedures, the company’s chairman Craig Barrett and Chief Technology Officer Justin Rattner were at the Parliament in Brussels unveiling Intel Labs Europe, a new look R&D set-up designed to generate “even closer” collaboration with European researchers and policymakers.

The stated aims and objectives nod at so many of the EU’s pet projects they could have been lifted straight from the Commission’s own R&D strategy manual. Thus, Intel Labs Europe, “Will coordinate innovation activity and future investments against an innovation agenda focussed on enabling a Digital Europe, which is aligned with the renewed EU Lisbon Strategy and the EU i2010 strategic initiative.”

On top of this the Lab will collaborate with EU initiatives, including “exploratory research, methods of using ICT to improve the efficiency of industries and increasing the quality and productivity of ICT overall.”

Many elements of Intel Labs Europe are in existence. The semiconductor manufacturer has 800 R&D staff in Europe based at five labs in Germany and four in the Republic of Ireland, along with a joint lab with Europe’s largest software company SAP in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and a further centre in Belgium.

Now, these centres are explicitly charged with, “partnering with European stakeholders to improve European competitiveness”, under the leadership of Martin Curley, professor of Technology and Business Innovation at the National University of Ireland, Maynooth, and Global Director of IT Innovation at Intel, who has been appointed Director of the Lab.

Centres in Munich, Germany, and Leixlip, Ireland will function as hubs for open innovation, hosting Framework Programme 7 projects and other collaborations with leading European companies, start-ups and universities.

Intel also dangled the prospect of greater R&D riches to come, saying it “hopes to begin” funding new projects in the next few months. It is actively exploring new research programmes, with discussions underway with institutions including the University of Saarland in Germany and the University of Versailles in France, and – icing on what is becoming a rather rich cake – plans, “further alignment” with the European Institute of Innovation and Technology as it develops.

Those three words “hopes to begin” may imply for some “but only if you are nice to us.”

The threat of downsizing and withdrawal is the more usual tactic of large corporates that don’t like the way the regulatory winds are blowing. Intel Labs Europe should be taken at face value, on the understanding that the proof of this pudding will be whether or not it lives up to the mission statement. If it does that it will be good for Intel, and good for Europe