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Xerox And Innovation: More Than 10 Years Of Investment In R&D In France And Europe!
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From competitive clusters to partnerships with universities and active contributions to
local and government projects, Xerox is involved in a host of initiatives to promote
European R&D
Xerox established its European research center, known as XRCE (Xerox Research Center
Europe) in the Grenoble region in 1993. XRCE is Xerox Innovation Group's European
research and technology branch. It coordinates research and engineering work and the
TeXnology showroom which is a customer window on Xerox research and a forum for
technological exchange. XRCE is also charged with forging relations within the European
scientific community by means of collaborative projects and partnerships. It has
participated in several high-tech initiatives in France and in the local area which
is now considered as France's Silicon Valley. In this capacity, XRCE is one of the
founding members of the GNI (Grenoble Network Initiative - www.gni.fr) whose main
mission since 1994 has been to organize and develop a community of chip-based
systems.
Working in close collaboration with several Xerox commercial entities, XRCE aims to help the Xerox rebrand from a system manufacturer to a service company combining high-quality staff and products. XRCE is therefore developing new technologies to access, share and use both documents and information for all types of system, format and language, in the office or remotely. Inventing the office of the future and designing imaging and text services to rationalize documentary processes are the main focus of the center's research efforts.
The Xerox team in Meylan is made up of information scientists, mathematicians, linguists,
sociologists and specialists in cognitive vision, with expert input from 15 different
nationalities. The center has won several French and international awards for its technical exploits.
For instance in late 2004, the French Agency for International Investment awarded Xerox
its prize called "Innovate in France". This distinction is intended to reward North-American companies that win renown through their commitment to innovate by significant investments in France.
XRCE involvement in two global competitive clusters!
As part of an initiative that began in September 2004, the French government recently selected 66 competitive clusters. This initiative aims to sharpen the competitive edge of the French economy by building on synergies between the enterprises, research units and training centers in a given geographic area. These major projects will be provided with %20AC1.5bn in public funding. Xerox is involved in two of the six clusters that have a global dimension.
- Image, multimedia and digital life (IMVN) - Ile de France region: This competitive cluster aims to make Paris and its region a center of excellence for global research in digital content. The project has been divided into six different fields of research: knowledge management and engineering, image and sound, video games, services & uses, digital access to cultural heritage and digital life.
XRCE is involved in the part focusing on knowledge management and engineering. The team responsible for this research effort is charged with developing global innovative solutions to locate, retrieve, analyze and merge multimedia information.
Xerox's partners in this project are major enterprises such as Thales and EADS, and universities of renown.
The IMVN cluster's principal objective is to act as an engine for the creation of more than 30,000 jobs in the next 5 to 7 years, and contribute to consolidating more than 20,000 in industry.
- Microtechnologies, Nanotechnologies and Software (Minalogic) - Grenoble: Minalogic's mission is to set up a center of international competence that brings together 52 partners from education, research and industry to focus on micro and nanotechnology and embedded software, with support from local and regional authorities. The ultimate goal is to give players a lasting competitive edge in new-generation miniaturized chips and embedded software.
Three major fields of research have been set out for this cluster: Core micro and nanotechnologies, Technology projects using chips and embedded software and the practical use of micro and nanotechnologies in industry.
Xerox is involved at two levels in this project via its European R&D center, XRCE, and also via its Canadian research center, XRCC. XRCE is one of the founding members of Minalogic. XRCC participates in the project devoted to the practical use of micro and nanotechnologies in industry and contributes more particularly to the part concerned with the project Electronique Grande Surface managed by Sofileta. Its role here consists of providing materials (semiconducting, conducting and insulating inks) based on Printed Organic Electronics technologies.
"From the very beginning Xerox has always been deeply involved in innovation. XRCE has for many years been establishing beneficial exchanges with other public and private bodies both in France and across Europe. Our cooperation in these two competitive clusters is a continuation of our commitment and demonstrates Xerox's will to assist France in its development", said Monica Beltrametti, vice-president and director of XRCE.
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