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spirit
peration
success factors. But if the project succeeds, the professor knows the
entire clout of the Intel group is there to bring the idea to
concrete realization.
From research to production
These laboratories operate on the principle of cooperation, rather
than competition. Property rights are not exclusive, and most
research results are published and widely disseminated. “It is this
encouragement to share their research results which pushes researchers
to work better and obtain better results”, Hans Mulder continues.
Each project is closely followed by an Intel manager. It is the relationship
with the researchers that the company is trying to prioritize.
“We don’t want to manage a project’s details, nor can we
impose it on the market. Neither can we control researchers and prevent
them from deciding to change life style or to take another path,
or even to move to the competition. We try therefore to maintain good
relations, and even to extend these outside our structures to make sure
good ideas are carried through… We believe it is better to influence
the entire ecosystem to bring projects to fruition than for these to fall
by the wayside”.
Has Intel discovered the new path of innovation? “It’s far from
simple, and to be honest I don’t have the miracle recipe”, Hans Mulder
admits. “Investing in the implementation phase of a
© Chris Northeast
Management improvement
Intel helps detect
eye disease in India
Under the direction of Eric Brewer,
the former founder of Inktomi
(search engines), the Intel laboratory
at Berkeley (USA) is developing a
project to make a quality infrastructure
available to the poorest countries.
By selecting the most standardized
technologies used in the west
and combining them as effectively
as possible to reduce costs, the team
is developing DTN (delay tolerant
networking) aimed at overcoming
the connectivity difficulties
experienced in disadvantaged regions.
This project is used for example
in India to undertake eye examinations
across an entire rural region.
In this way people no longer travel
in from their village to be examined
at city hospitals. Instead a computer
is installed in each village, linked
to an eye analysis system.
A new generation network, less
demanding in terms of connectivity
than the TCP/IP protocol, allows
this computer to be connected up
with the hospital computer.
project is still the most difficult decision to take.” With their
concern for cost control and their focus on today’s products –
and Intel is no exception here – companies are enormously resistant
to risk taking.
Intel founder Andy Grove knows a thing or two about this. Forty
years ago he himself quit the company he was working for. Why?
Because no one at Fairchild wanted to listen to his ideas… Which
is why he founded Intel! ●
© Sonesh Surana
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