Intel puts Romania on its strategic map

The School of Cybernetics in Bucharest will have an Intel research lab, donated by the world’s largest chipmaker, which is also considering opening its own research centre.

Intel’s move comes after those made by other IT giants, such as Microsoft, Oracle, IBM and Motorola, which have invested in research centres and bought Romanian technology over the last few months. Intel officially opened its Romanian office yesterday and restated its interest in investing in the development of the local IT&C market.

The lab at the School of Cybernetics is intended to develop technologies for mobile handheld equipment, such as PDAs and mobile phones. It is a donation from Intel Innovation in Education, a foundation that supports academic activities, Intel’s CEE manager Piotr Pagowski told Ziarul Financiar. Pagowski will also be running Intel’s Romanian office. The lab will develop applications and hardware solutions for mobile devices, in order to boost sales of such products, 80% of which are powered by Intel technology. The lab will be open to students of other schools that are running technology projects.

Intel has expressed willingness to support those programmes, which makes it easier for users to access the latest technologies. In this regard, it mentioned its previous partnerships with a number of IT companies in the UK, enabling PCs to be bought at lower prices. At the same time, the chipmaker was also ready to assist in the development of the national wireless Internet (WiFi) access infrastructure, Jurgen Thiel, Intel’s manager for the EU region told Ziarul Financiar. “We have integrated Romania into the EU space. We want to be one step ahead,” he added.

Thiel stated that the opening of Intel’s Bucharest office was intended to help maintain closer contact with the company’s partners and clients. At the same time, Intel will be able to analyse the local market and observe whether or not it should open a research centre here. At the same time, its venture capital investment arm continues to probe the market to identify local technology producers that might be considered for future investments.

dan.dragomir@zf.ro