Monday, 24 April 2006

Nokia, MIT Opens Joint Research Centre

Nokia in partnership with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has announced the opening of Nokia Centre Cambridge with a view of advancing the vision of mobility while developing real-word applications. The joint projects will have about 20 researchers each from MIT and Nokia. A joint steering committee will be headed by Dr James Hicks, director, Nokia Research Center Cambridge and Arvind Johnson, program manager - CSAIL, MIT will supervise the overall project.

The center is currently focusing its research on several projects, each part of a larger vision where mobile devices become elements of an "ecosystem" of information, services, peripherals, sensors and other devices. Nokia said the projects underway revolve around increasing people’s lives and productivity and envision the projects to become real-world applications within the next decade. "Our mission is to explore and develop technologies that will be available in the marketplace in five to ten years - not just novelties, but technologies that will see mass market demand from consumers and enterprises," said Dr. Bob Iannucci, head of Nokia Research Centre.

Specific projects include:
- Project Simone that addresses new ways of interacting with mobile
- MobileStart provides a framework for task-oriented applications
- MyNet/UIA develops a way of connecting various devices easily and securely
- Asbestos explores the use of new operating systems mechanisms
- SwapMe develops a platform for Semantic Web
- ComposeMe provides mechanisms for verifying interoperability of Web services
- Armo explores new design methodologies and languages for development of high-quality mobile hardware

Speaking on the occasion, Professor Rodney Brooks, director of the MIT CSAIL Lab said, “Not only do we have the opportunity to work on truly compelling research with Nokia's highest-caliber researchers, but - because of Nokia's leadership in the mobile communications market - we also have confidence that our joint research will likely be deployed throughout the world, ultimately having a positive impact on the daily lives of hundreds of millions of people."