Innovation in Communication

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Innovation in Communication
Miklós Boda, President WTC Budapest, May 1, 2006
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Life cycle of products and paradigms is getting
shorter
Time needed to reach 50 million users
38
16
4
1
Years
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Internet Infrastructure

• Mature technology
• Incremental evolution, commodity service
• Same best-effort service today as in 1991.
• Opportunity in
• smart management of assets
• gradual evolution of technology

This is a field of evolution and not revolution!
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Internet applications
Something new every week!
Web 2.0 generally refers to a second generation
of services available on the World Wide Web that
let people collaborate, and share information
online. (Wikipedia)
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Applications

• Internet a global market for applications
• The winner takes it all

Search engines
Browsers
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Innovation with applications

• Opportunity for Innovation
• Garage companies are back!

Apple, 1976
Microsoft, 1981
Google, 2001
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Garage companies
are mostly silicon valley
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Ubiquitous computing
The most profound technologies are those that
disappear. They weave themselves into the fabric
of everyday life until they are indistinguishable
from it. (Mark Weiser)

• I just press a button and it works
• Even grandmother can use it
• Intuitive user interfaces and gadgets

Opportunity for localized innovation.
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Many examples

• Cars that park themselves
• Road navigation with live traffic info
• Mobile payment and commerce
• Location based tourist services
• Sensor networks to control our environment
• Medical alert systems

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Research on Ubiquitous Computing

• AMBIENTE Lab in Human-Computer Interaction,
  Fraunhofer IPSI Institute, AMBIENTE division,
  Germany
• CHICO Laboratory in Computer Human Interaction,
  University of Castilla - la Mancha, Spain
• Cogent Computing Group Cogent Computing Group at
  Coventry University, UK
• Computing Department, Lancaster University
• Design User-centered Brainstorming Center
  (DUB), University of Washington
• e-World Lab, University of South Australia
• Embedded Interaction Research Group, University
  of Munich, Germany
• Future Applications Lab, Viktoria Institute
• Global Information Systems Group, ETH Zurich
• Grid and Pervasive Computing Group, University of
  Southampton
• Group for User Interface Research, University of
  California, Berkeley
• Human Media Lab, Queen's University
• Institute for Pervasive Computing, ETH Zurich,
  Switzerland
• Intel Research Seattle
• Intelligent Inhabited Environments Group,
  University of Essex
• Interaction Design Centre, University of
  Limerick, Ireland
• Laboratory for Communication Engineering,
  University of Cambridge
• LIRIS (CNRS), University of Lyon, France
• MAYA Design, a company that "tames complexity"

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• What is good for science?

What is science good for?
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• How is innovation defined ?

The opposite of innovation imitation !
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Total RD expenditure and business expenditure on
RD as percentage of GDP (GERD and BERD)
(2001-2003)
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Challenges for Hungary

• Low innovation intensity of companies, especially
  SMEs
• Strong academic background, but with inadequate
  linkages to industry
• Authoriterian and rigid structure of the academic
  world
• Low mobility of researchers

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2013 GOALS

• Transformation of the current (12) ratio of
  private to public RD expenditures to 21.
• 0,7 GOVERD
• 1,4 BERD
• 2,1 GERD

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Vision 2025

• Hungary is one of leading countries in the world
• Entrepreneur friendly environment, modern
  infrastructure
• More than 3 GERD
• World class research universities and innovation
  centres
• Competitive and creative workforce
• Hungarian Nobel Prize.

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Priorities of our strategy

• Through the boost of RD and innovation
  activities, the establishment and development of
  new enterprises and products that are competitive
  on the global market.
• The sectoral and regional concentration of
  innovation capacities, the establishment of
  infrastructures, and the improvement of the
  effectiveness of the research institutes.
• The training of workforce, which corresponds to
  the economy.
• The improvement of the legal and economic
  environment that motivates RD and innovation.

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Governmental incentives to boost corporate
innovation

• Innovation-friendly legislation,
• Governmental support for the whole innovation
  chain (from the idea to the realization),
• New strategic priorities
• Strong academic research base with strong
  linkages to companies.

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Innovation-friendly legislation

• Well Functioning National Innovation System
  (Reforms in Hungary)
• Government bodies NKTH
• Financing Research and Technology Innovation
  Fund (matching fund)
• Enterprises contribute to the Fund at least 0.3
  of their turnover.
• Hungarian government contributes to the Fund with
  equivalent amount.
• Regulatory framework Bayh-Dole like Innovation
  Act
• It promotes the whole innovation process, from
  the idea to the realization,
• It clarifies IPR regulations,
• It promotes spin-offs and mobility.

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Governmental support for the whole innovation
chain

• Targetted support schemes for collaborative
  biotechnology innovation (companies with academic
  partner)
• RD Tax relief (200-400)
• RD FDI promotion
• International cooperation

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Our new strategic priorities

• Strong focusing
• (on key technologies areas)
• Commercialisation - utilization
• (new products, and new spin-off firms)
• Special regional efforts
• (build a well functioning innovation system)

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Mobile Innovation Centrewww.mik.bme.hu

• The Mobile Innovation Centre was established to
  solve the scientific and technological questions
  which contribute
• to the clearing up the problems existing in
  future mobile and wireless systems,
• to the implementation of 3G services and to the
  introduction of later mobile and wireless
  communication technologies
• to the development of the future applications
  (3G, beyond 3G) on the systems.

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Program portfolio for 2006, funded by Innovation
Fund (Commitment 156 M USD)
Remark Bubbles are propotional to the
funding amount
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Conclusions

• We should change the authoritarian
• and rigid leadership structures.

• We should support challengers
• instead of powerhouses.

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• Thank you for your attention
• Miklós Boda
• miklos.boda_at_nkth.gov.hu