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Konica Minolta continues to invest in innovation, as it opens a new R&D centre in Rome
Monday 19. February 2018 - In line with the technology giants medium-term business plan, SHINKA 2019, Konica Minolta, Inc. (Konica Minolta) continues to increase its investment in global innovation. Following the announcement of Workplace Hub, its next-generation intelligent edge platform in 2017, and early demonstrations of its Cognitive Hub concept late last year, the organization has now opened a dedicated research center in Rome, Italy.
These developments confirm that R&D is a clear, core part of the organizations transformation into a platform-led, IoT business. Within the Rome laboratory, almost 100 research specialists will focus on the development of the most innovative technologies in the fields of ICT and artificial intelligence, with a focus on applications for the workplace of the future. One of the main activities for the laboratory will be to proceed on the development and incubation of the Workplace Hub disruptive concepts, a fundamental element of Konica Minoltas strategy as the portfolio grows.
The research center will also be key to the development of Cognitive Hub, a system that will apply intelligent edge computing to provide AI and augment human intelligence. Extending the network of human interfaces and enhancing collaboration amongst individuals and teams, Cognitive Hub will become a nexus for clients information flows. It will provide AI based interoperability services that are immediately and automatically actionable within the digital workplace, striving to close the gap between the way machines and people process information.
On Monday 12th February, the new research facility was opened with institutional greetings from Hirohiko Yamazaki, General Manager of Corporate Technology Strategy Konica Minolta; Dennis Curry, Executive Director Global R&D and Deputy CTO, Konica Minolta; Flavia Marzano, from the Municipality of Rome; and Yoshioka Hiroshi, President of Konica Minolta Business Solution Italia.
The opening event gave guests the opportunity to get first-hand experience of new technologies in the field of digital workplace and data systems, alongside a series of short presentations from market experts. Filippo Silva and Christian Mastrodonato (respectively R&D Strategy Manager and Chief Technologist of Konica Minolta), Maurizio Lenzerini (La Sapienza University), Giorgio Metta (IIT – Italian Institute of Technology), and Angelo Maria Sabatini (Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna) all offered insights on what to expect in the future for research and development.
The European R&D team are delighted to see Konica Minolta continue to support their endeavors, with the global approach helping the organization create new and compelling products, services and experiences for the future workplace. Current projects include a focus on data and workflow management, IoT, robotic systems for digital healthcare and learning technologies.