R&D and Global Innovation

1. R&D and Global Innovation Jon Clemens February 21, 2008

2. Sharp Corporation • Japanese Company • 65 operations in 34 countries • $26 Billion in revenue in 2007 • Spends over $1 Billion in R&D per year • Consumer and business products • Also large components business

3. Sharp Labs of America • 350 members • Headquarters in Camas WA • Facilities in Bangalore, India; Huntington Beach, CA and McLean, VA • 6 Research departments

4. JKC R&D Experiences • RCA David Sarnoff Research Center • SRI International • Sharp Laboratories • Washington Technology Center

5. Building SLA • Established in 1995 with 1 member • Mission: To bring technologies that are strong in the US into Sharp products • Site chosen • First technologies chosen • My major concern was the culture

6. Establishing SLA R&D Culture • We were hiring people from many companies with their own culture • It was very important to establish our own culture • Mutual Respect • Openness • Sharing information • Toward commercial applications not publishing • Methods we used to seed the culture

7. Measures of SLA Innovation • 232 patents filed in 2007 by the 200 people in Camas • 50+ papers published in technical journals in 2007 • SLA members on many standards committees • Hundreds of SLA technologies in Sharp products • Sharp Technology Ventures established

8. Global Considerations • Global R&D and innovation is very important today “The world is flat” • Crosspollination of backgrounds and education are important to generate new ideas • It is of highest importance to understand the culture of a “foreign” market, partner, vendor, --- • Different cultures have different desires, motivations, rules, etc. • International and local procedures and laws must be understood and followed • Trusted local “expertise” must be found and established