Microsoft Scientists Offer Glimpse of the Future at European Innovation Fair

Event Highlights Company's Collaboration With European Academic, GovernmentAnd Industry Researchers to Explore Frontiers of Computer Science And Deliver Empowering New Technologies. BRUSSELS, Belgium -- Sept. 23, 2004 -- Today at the Microsoft® Research and Innovation Fair, Microsoft Corp. showcased a number of innovations under development by scientists in the company's global research labs and with partners throughout Europe. Highlighting new projects such as a graphical programming language for robotics that is simple to teach and allows people to control robots with a Smartphone, and mobile hot spot technology that helps provide better high-speed connectivity anytime, anywhere, by dynamically combining the power from multiple wireless devices, the fair showed how collaborative innovation can fuel global economic growth and advance the state of the art in fields as diverse as mobility, security, human-computer interaction and next-generation media. Speaking to an audience of academics and government officials at the Bibliothèque Solvay, Jean-Philippe Courtois, senior vice president and chief executive officer of Microsoft Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), reiterated Microsoft's commitment to creating and sustaining a vibrant information technology (IT) ecosystem, and to further supporting the goals of the European Union's Lisbon Agenda to make Europe the most competitive knowledge-based economy by 2010. "Information and communications technology (ICT) has had a more transformative impact on societies throughout Europe and around the globe than nearly any other advance in human history. ICT innovations have brought fundamental and lasting benefits to everything from science, healthcare and education to business productivity, government and beyond," Courtois said. "As the research demonstrated today shows, we are an innovation company committed to a strong research program in Europe. Our goal is to work as a dedicated partner, to push the limits of ICT, to continue forward progress, and to meet the goals of the Lisbon Agenda and unleash the potential of the information society." Also at the event, Rick Rashid, senior vice president of Microsoft Research, and Andrew Herbert, managing director of Microsoft Research Cambridge, highlighted the External Research Office, which is chartered with bringing together Europe's top researchers to create the new building blocks for the next wave of innovation at the boundaries of computing and sciences. The office is focused on Europe-wide collaborative research in three areas: new computing paradigms, computational science and social-centric applications.