Driving technology innovation in a global marketplace

Q: In a media-drenched world how important are perceptions in the process and flow of innovation development for a company, and how can a company harness perceptions and beliefs to succeed as an innovator? Is there a process for turning innovations into market leadership?

A: Perceptions are crucial to innovation. In many ways, perceptions and beliefs are the keys to driving innovation within a technology company and establishing a connection with technology users. Creating, cultivating and maintaining those beliefs - now, there's a challenge. Whether you're a relatively unknown company with no innovation track record, or a world-leading corporation with a decades-long reputation as a technology innovator, it is essential to continually refresh your technology, aspirations, identity and the beliefs that drive them. To a technology company, this may be obvious. However, as a philosopher once commented on life, "It's simple. It's just not easy."

To achieve real technology innovation in a global marketplace a company must engage with the people who use its technology. Intel's approach to "platforms" is directly linked to this customer knowledge: developing a full suite of components and technologies - hardware and software combined with industry and infrastructure enabling - to deliver an entirely new experience to people on the move, or in their homes or offices.

It isn't enough to simply connect people to the Internet. Exactly what this means should be imagined as richly and broadly as possible. By focusing our researchers and marketing programs on things like home, work, mobility, health and play, Intel ensures that the Internet we might connect to in the future will be one that matters.

Intel innovates in how it understands and responds to local needs and desires across the world. In India we use a localized approach, developing PCs suitable for small businesses in rural environments. This is an approach we've also repeated in other parts of the world. The China Home Learning PC provides a unique combination of hard-key switching between "educational" and "general" modes, and uses touch screens and voice matching to coach children in Mandarin and English. Intel's platform technology for China's iCafés allows upgrades, which previously took days, to be performed in less than half an hour, saving an estimated $85 per PC per year - significant when large iCafes have thousands of PCs. Innovation has many faces. We also try to innovate in how we develop the "ecosystems" surrounding the delivery and usage of our technologies. In emerging markets, we work closely with local industry, government bodies and users to help address broader challenges such as infrastructure, education and economic development.

Intel played a key role in popularizing the use of Wi-Fi with Intel^® Centrino mobile technology. There are now about 60,000 Intel Centrino mobile technology verified public hotspots worldwide, allowing people to stay connected (without network wires or cables) in locations as diverse as Mount Everest base camp, the catwalk at London Fashion Week and the beach at Cannes.

Digital technology innovations are transforming lives around the globe and Intel is helping to enable this transformation. Researchers at a panda reserve in China use an Intel architecture-based wireless computing network to chronicle the animals' activities and share data, images and video with colleagues around the world. A Russian bus manufacturer uses Intel-based servers to shorten vehicle development cycles and boost product quality. At hospital bedsides in Israel, doctors access patient records using Intel technology-based wireless computers. At community learning centers in northern Mexico, PCs powered by Intel processors are helping to raise literacy rates.

This, however, isn't enough. Even Intel, an established and recognized technology leader, cannot stand still. Our challenge isn't necessarily to find a hot new opportunity to make our own - as I did at Samsung with the mobile phone - but rather to change the rules of the game we're in. Where are the next billion people who will use our technology? How can we innovate to engage them? Is it with broadband wireless access to the Internet? With new devices that benefit from the convergence of communications, computing and consumer electronics? With locally designed solutions that meet the needs of a remote village in India?

This is where our platform strategy comes in. While silicon remains our core innovation arena, we're now applying silicon to new challenges - not just the processor speed of the past, but also special platform technologies, which we call the "*Ts", to deliver new capabilities such as virtualization, improved security, and system management. In addition, we're developing processors containing two or more processing "cores" which expand performance and capabilities. The transition to multicore processing will require significant efforts from Intel to bring the entire "ecosystem" in line with the new technology. The result of this will be new user experiences through richer media, home entertainment and more productive systems for work.

In essence, we need to create our own revolutions - or powerful evolutions. At Intel, my challenge is to build on the innovation engine that's already running strong, focus it more intently on anticipating the next cycle of customer need, then drive forward a single understandable message to make sure the world knows exactly who we are.

We're in an industry that demands innovation - certainly for success, and probably for survival. Our challenge - our goal - is to innovate across the board: in silicon technology, in industry enabling, in understanding how people can use technology and in delighting people with technology that can change their lives. To touch these people, our message of innovation has to be crystal clear and simple enough for both customers and employees to hear - and remember - amid the noise. There's an old adage that perception is reality and reality drives perception. At Intel we're working to drive both perception and reality in order to deliver the best possible solution.