What Roles Do Corporate R&D Labs Have in the Web Era?

[Terry Olaes]

Once upon a time, the research & development labs of corporate giants like IBM & General Electric were the trump cards for large corporations in the innovation race. Now that the Internet has opened up the playing field, decentralizing the workspace and communications, these labs must evolve or become victims of cost cutting measures. This NYTimes article takes a look at what some of these labs are doing.

The best bet for corporate R.& D. labs, he said, is to adopt a “federated” model that leverages all the innovative work by outsiders in universities, start-ups, business partners and government labs. The corporate lab’s role, then, is to be more of a coordinator and integrator of innovation, from both outside and inside the company walls.

 

[ashmedai]

It's a fairly interesting proposal that acknowledges the way several existing trends have been affecting research. I'm not sure it has the potential to be transformative, because of the pressure to quickly produce marketable results when corporate interests are involved. But depending on how it was handled, it could be good for a lot of different groups.

 

[the_dealer]

The very nature of government-funded research compells research to be done at a snail's pace. Once the project is complete--the money is gone. This is another attempt at changing thinking. The government invents nothing, private industry (so long as its around) invents everything.

 

[ashmedai]

The very nature of government-funded research compells research to be done at a snail's pace. Once the project is complete--the money is gone. This is another attempt at changing thinking. The government invents nothing, private industry (so long as its around) invents everything.

On the other hand, I could name countless examples of things that were developed in an academic lab where you still can't go and buy tech based on the results of that research because of corporate patent hoarding. Corps constantly tie up patents not just because they think they might eventually do something with them, but also to prevent anyone else from doing anything with it. There's bad shit all around.

Research into, say, basic physics depends heavily on government grants. On the other hand, the results of this sort of fundamental research are eventually necessary in order to do the sort of research corporations can see a profit in. If nobody ever funds it, you don't get nifty gadgets out the other end. Corporations are not and probably can not be a complete solution, because they're generally unwilling to underwrite anything that takes a lot of time and doesn't lead directly to the potential for profit.

 

[qkool]

Agreed with ashmedai.

I'll throw down two examples from just the US alone:

Internet
Velcro

I'm sure a ton of the money goes to waste, but the point is, it does produce something.

 

[qkool]

Agreed with ashmedai.

I'll throw down two examples from just the US alone:

Internet
Velcro

I'm sure a ton of the money goes to waste, but the point is, it does produce something.

Not velcro. I think that was swiss. I'm not sure if it was government related.

but I'll replace it with padded underwear.