NEC 2007 Annual Report Download - page 30

NEC closely links its R&D and intellectual assets strategy
to its management strategies and is working on enhancing
technological competitiveness to drive future Group-wide
business expansion.
The Technology Innovation Committee, which includes
members of senior management, sets the overall strategic
direction for reinforcing technologies in the NEC group. The
Intellectual Asset R&D Unit advances development activities
in collaboration with various business units.
(1) Strengthening Technological and Intellectual
Asset Capabilities as a Group
In R&D, NEC’s Central Research Laboratories is clearly
positioned as the R&D headquarters of the group. Central
Research Laboratories conducts R&D in new technologies that
contribute to the advancement of existing businesses, as well
as advanced and fundamental research into key technologies
to create new businesses for the future. R&D accomplishments
are shared with companies in the NEC group.
In April 2007, NEC implemented organizational changes
aimed at further accelerating the pace of creating new
businesses in the NEC group for the future and achieving
the technological innovation necessary to significantly
advance current businesses. NEC merged the Solutions
Development Laboratories, which has been responsible for
creating new businesses in the IT/Network Solutions field,
into the Central Research Laboratories, which has been
focusing on developing advanced and fundamental
technologies. This move will give NEC an integrated frame-
work spanning everything from fundamental research to
the creation of new businesses. NEC will work to reinforce
R&D in the IT/Network solutions and Electron Devices fields.
(2) NEC’s R&D Domains
NEC broadly divides the Central Research Laboratories into
the following three fields, and conducts R&D activities
tailored to the characteristics of each field.
R&D and Intellectual Assets Strategy
Innovation is the wellspring of NEC’s competitiveness. By becoming a
global innovation company, NEC will maintain its competitive edge as a
company synonymous with high technology over the medium and long
terms, as it works to steadily increase corporate value.
NEC views intellectual assets as a key management
resource. It thus places emphasis on the following:
■Linking its R&D and intellectual assets strategy to
its management strategies
■Enhancing technological competitiveness
■Reinforcing and strategically utilizing intellectual
assets
1. The Emergence of a Ubiquitous
Networking Society 30 Years After
Announcing the C&C Vision
In 1977, NEC foresaw the integration of the computer and
communications and conceived the slogan “C&C.” With
recent advances in Internet and mobile handset technolo-
gies, the C&C vision is now becoming a reality. In this
manner, NEC has constantly conducted R&D activities from
medium and long term perspectives based on insight into
the direction of future technologies and NEC’s businesses.
2. Reinforce Technological Competitiveness in
Support of Group-wide Growth Strategies
NEC’s business environment is changing at an extremely
fast and dramatic pace. The emergence of Next Generation
Networks (NGN) has been accompanied by significant
technological advances in the converging fields of IT and
networks that are computers and communications.
Furthermore, as broader uptake of NGN increasingly
facilitates the exchange of information, collaboration
between enterprises across different industries is set to give
rise to new services and businesses.
For the NEC group to prevail against global competition
and achieve sustained growth, it is crucial that the Group
stay on top of these dramatic shifts in its business
environment. Technological innovation grounded on
science and intellectual assets are the critical keys to
achieving significant advances in current businesses and
creating new business for the future.
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