Nokia Research Center celebrates twenty years of innovation

October 03, 2006 - Espoo, Finland - Nokia’s corporate research unit, Nokia Research Center, celebrates today its 20th anniversary at its global headquarters in Helsinki, Finland. Established in 1986, the research center today employs a diverse group of 1,100 researchers located in Finland, China, Germany, Hungary, Japan and the United States.

Nokia Research Center’s work has been at the core of many fundamental telecommunications milestones such as GSM standardization and development, SMS systems, 3G evolution and recently the mobile-TV technology standard DVB-H. It has also carried out instrumental research in mobile multimedia, with major contribution to Java Mobile Media API (JSR-135), M3G Mobile 3D graphics, and audio and video codecs, such as AAC and AMR-WB+. With research work encompassing diverse fields from mobile and IP networks, electronics, software and application development to artificial intelligence, Nokia Research Center is truly a house of experts. It is also a major contributor to Nokia’s patent portfolio, with approximately half of Nokia’s essential patents originating from Nokia Research Center.

In a competitive market and a fast paced technology race, Nokia Research Center has a crucial role to play to renew and reinvent Nokia. Convergence of different industries and the digitalization of experiences represent a huge potential for rich customer experiences and new business. The role of the research center is, together with Nokia’s business groups, to identify future technology opportunities and assess the best technology paths for Nokia.

“Nokia Research Center has much to celebrate today. For twenty years now, the researchers of Nokia Research Center have worked to solve hard problems and make technology simple to use and a great experience,” said Dr. Bob Iannucci, Head of Nokia Research Center. “Now we are focusing on creating the next wave of mobile internet technologies, systems and solutions that will change the way people communicate in the future.”

Research collaboration with the industry and academic institutions has been a key element of Nokia Research Center’s success. From the beginning, Nokia Research Center has participated in the work of various industry fori and in several research programs run by national or international agencies, such as the Tekes of Finland and the European Union Framework Programs. At any given time the Nokia Research Center is involved in hundreds of individual research collaboration projects.

“We congratulate the Nokia Research Center as they celebrate twenty years at the forefront of the telecommunications revolution,” commented MIT President Susan Hockfield. “As information and communication technologies become ever more critical in our personal and professional lives, we look forward to further collaboration with Nokia to make new communication opportunities and services available for people around the globe.”

With a strategy to further deepen its collaboration with leading universities, Nokia Research Center announced in April 2006 the opening of a joint research facility with Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), US. Established on the basis of years of close collaboration, the research carried out at the Nokia Research Center Cambridge facility will advance the vision of mobility while developing real-world applications. This ambition supports Nokia Research Center’s long-term vision of leading the development of technologies and services that merge the lines between our physical and digital lives, making digital devices and applications more intertwined with our surroundings through seamless and intuitive interaction.


Nokia Research Center
Nokia Research Center is responsible for the strategic and long-term research in Nokia. Looking beyond current product development, the Research Center challenges current strategies and drives Nokia’s renewal through long-term technology exploration. Nokia Research Center participates in the standardization work and various international R&D projects in cooperation with universities and research institutes.

About Nokia
Nokia is a world leader in mobile communications, driving the growth and sustainability of the broader mobility industry. Nokia connects people to each other and the information that matters to them with easy-to-use and innovative products like mobile phones, devices and solutions for imaging, games, media and businesses. Nokia provides equipment, solutions and services for network operators and corporations.

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www.nokia.com/press/ntmb06

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