The world's top computer maker Hewlett Packard is narrowing its research focus to Internet opportunities and its growing role as a software company. HP's 600 researchers in China, Japan, Israel, Russia, India, Britain and the United States will go from working on about 150 small projects to concentrating on two dozen or so.
"This is a big deal to us," HP chief executive Mark Hurd said at a Thursday press conference at the company's headquarters in Palo Alto, California.
"Whathey want at lower costs than ever, according to Robison.
"I think Fortune 100 companies are going to research, develop and launch major products using cloud-based services," Robison said. "It's a big breakthrough, especially in terms of cost."
"Crowd sourcing" is mainstream with firms tapping into online communities for feedback regarding everything from logo designs to software applications. "We are embarking on the next wave of talent aggregation," Robison said.
HP Labs' mission is to come up with innovations that can quickly be turned into products that capitalise on today's Internet trends.
"We know where we are going and we think if we target that research we can not only have fun, we can help the company's bottom line," Robison said. "This is about efficiency and time to market. Our whole goal is to move at an Internet speed."
HP researchers have been divided into 23 "small dynamic teams" coaxed to think like entrepreneurs. "We are going to refocus our effort in 20 to 30 big bets in high-impact areas," HP Labs director Prith Banerjee said at the press conference. "We hope to solve the most challenging problems facing our customers in the next decade, and drive HP growth."
HP Labs is intensifying its relationships with universities, partners and venture capitalists, and launched an online HP IdeaLab where outside researchers and developers can weigh in on work in progress. "This is a total Team HP effort, not just an HP Labs effort," Hurd said."
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