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 Since its inception in April 1998, the IBM India Research Laboratory (IRL) – the youngest of IBM’s eight world-class globally integrated research labs - has grown significantly in technical leadership, accomplishments, and size. IRL has grown so significantly that we have expanded from one location to two - and today, both the sites in New Delhi and Bangalore are focused on delivering real innovations to business and society.
For the past decade, IRL has worked with local clients and partners to shape India’s innovation landscape. IRL has also driven a global agenda and accomplished a great deal of business and scientific impact. At this point, IRL's track record already makes it a top research lab in the country. But our aspiration is higher -- to become the world's best lab in selected areas.
At IRL, we pursue a systematic study for understanding the fundamental aspects of phenomena with specific applications towards products or services in mind. Our use-cases are derived from real-world scenarios within the environment we work in, including the market dynamics of India and the activities of IBM in India. For example, telecommunications is a booming area within the Indian market, and there are unique opportunities for innovation based on insights in this market. Similarly, global delivery of IT-based services, including infrastructure, application, and business process services, accounts for much of the services exported by India to the rest of the world. Naturally, both these areas are strategic areas for IRL, where unique insights lead to innovation that matters.
IRL brings to bear our world-class expertise in many areas to address these kinds of real-world problems. Primary among these areas are information and knowledge management, systems management, distributed and high performance computing, software engineering, analytics and optimization and the emerging area of service science. The lab boasts a rich talent pool in these areas and an enviable culture of innovation. Our ideas typically germinate from the cross-pollination of multiple scientific disciplines and our insight into real-world needs.
Innovation does not only emerge from inside the lab - but in this era of dynamic change, the best ideas sometimes come from external sources. Therefore, our innovation ecosystem extends beyond the boundaries of the labs. Researchers work closely with global teams in top universities, publish papers and create collaborative relationships through fellowships, grants and shared research programs. Some of our work is specifically targeted to create an open body of knowledge and intellectual property for communities to build upon. This creates a stimulating and collaborative atmosphere that encourages "out of the box" thinking mixed with scientific rigor.
Today at IRL, we have the advantage of being in a unique and dynamic environment. We have the opportunity for robust collaboration with innovative, high-growth local businesses. And we have the benefit of leveraging multiple scientific disciplines to drive an array of research areas. Indeed, this is an exciting time to be working in these fields of research and in this region of the world.
Dr. Guruduth Banavar
Director,
IBM India Research Laboratory
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