Bell Labs and IDA celebrate four years of successful open innovation in the Irish Republic

“During the last four years we have established very productive relationships both with Irish Government agencies and with academia and we look forward to continuing these partnerships. Ireland is a great place to be as the high academic standards here mean that we have a pool of exceptional talent to draw a upon, helping us to pioneer life-changing solutions as our work influences not just the telecoms industry but other sectors all over the world”.

Sam Samuel, Executive Director, Bell labs UK & Ireland

Eamon Ryan TD, Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources and Eileen Sharpe, Head of ICT at The Irish Development Agency join other guests to see some of the latest advances in telecommunications technology

Dublin, Ireland, May 27, 2009 — Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) today celebrates a milestone in its partnership with the Irish government and industry in generating world-class innovations that will impact telecommunications, the environment, healthcare, and many other fields. Marking four years of close collaboration and successful innovation in The Irish Republic, Alcatel-Lucent hosted a commemorative ceremony in conjunction with Alcatel-Lucent’s Open Day at its Bell Labs facility in Blanchardstown, Dublin.

Guests from the public sector and academia based in both Ireland and the UK were joined by Eamon Ryan TD, Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources and Eileen Sharpe, Head of ICT at IDA Ireland, the agency of the Irish Government responsible for securing new investment from overseas. They were welcomed to the Open Day by Sam Samuel, Executive Director of Bell Labs UK & Ireland and Adolfo Hernandez, President of EMEA, Alcatel-Lucent.

Demonstrations included:

• energy management, a topical area of research, as anything up to 50 percent of the total power consumption of a telecommunications equipment cabinet is expended in cooling.
   
• some of the latest e-health applications enabled by fast broadband. Pioneered by Bell Labs scientists in Ireland, one such application allows the remote monitoring and diagnosis of patients with heart conditions along with an information-sharing tool to facilitate remote consultation by a medical specialist in real time.

• a tour of Bell Labs including a visit to the anechoic chamber, which is used for testing the radio frequency of antennas and antenna arrays and is the only facility of its type in the Republic of Ireland.

Communications Minister Eamon Ryan TD toured the Labs and said: “Ireland is extremely well-placed to position itself as a world leader in new communications technologies that will deliver real efficiencies. In constructing our smart electricity grid and communications network, we need to capitalise on our skills and resources to deliver the best results. Organisations such as Bell Labs are clearly making strides in this area. This is the smart economy at work; Bell Labs is providing high-quality jobs, developing innovative technologies and generating investment. I must congratulate Alcatel-Lucent Bell Labs, our universities, Science Foundation Ireland and the IDA for this successful collaboration. It is a template for others, demonstrating the kind of successful cooperation between all sectors that will be vital as we move towards a low-carbon, knowledge-based future.”

Eileen Sharpe, Head of ICT at IDA Ireland, said: “Bell Labs is one of Ireland's first big collaborative investments and it has been a tremendous success. It involves Alcatel-Lucent Bell Labs, a range of Irish academic institutions, Science Foundation Ireland and the IDA and is proof that Ireland is the perfect location at which to bring multi-party and multi-disciplinary investments, which are the investments of the future, to fruition. Ireland is home to 1,000 multinational companies, 90 research centres and 200 High Potential Start Up (HPSU) companies and this concentration of players offers us strong differentiation as we compete for knowledge intensive investments. Ireland also has the talent, enthusiasm and innovative capacity that encourage interconnectivity between players. On behalf of IDA Ireland I congratulate Bell Labs on its success to-date and we look forward to continuing to work with you to develop your presence in Ireland.”

Sam Samuel, Executive Director, Bell labs UK & Ireland said: “During the last four years we have established very productive relationships both with Irish Government agencies and with academia and we look forward to continuing these partnerships. Ireland is a great place to be as the high academic standards here mean that we have a pool of exceptional talent to draw a upon, helping us to pioneer life-changing solutions as our work influences not just the telecoms industry but other sectors all over the world”.

Materials and photos from the Open Day are available on request.

Click here to view video of how Alcatel-Lucent is powering new ideas to make technology more eco-efficient
 

About Alcatel-Lucent

Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) is the trusted partner of service providers, enterprises and governments worldwide, providing solutions to deliver voice, data and video communication services to end-users. A leader in fixed, mobile and converged broadband networking, IP technologies, applications and services, Alcatel-Lucent leverages the unrivalled technical and scientific expertise of Bell Labs, one of the largest innovation powerhouses in the communications industry. With operations in more than 130 countries and the most experienced global services organization in the industry, Alcatel-Lucent is a local partner with a global reach. Alcatel-Lucent achieved revenues of Euro 16.98 billion in 2008 and is incorporated in France, with executive offices located in Paris. For more information, visit Alcatel-Lucent on the Internet: http://www.alcatel-lucent.com

Contact the Alcatel-Lucent Press Office:    press@alcatel-lucent.com