AT&T has opened AT&T Foundry innovation centers,
including the newest center, in Palo Alto, Calif. AT&T Foundries are
fast-paced and collaborative environments where AT&T and technology
providers team with developers to deliver the latest applications and services
to customers more quickly than ever before.
The AT&T Foundry is one part of AT&T’s overall
innovation strategy that aims to accelerate technology development by
collaborating with third party developers, venture capitalists and technology
providers sometimes by taking lead on a project, other times by
contributing expertise, connections and resources to help developers bring an
idea to reality.
“The AT&T Foundry is a core component of our
innovation strategy,” said John Donovan, chief technology officer,
AT&T.
“This isn’t a technology showroom or testing
facility. It’s a place where real innovation is occurring at an unprecedented
pace in order to bring new services and products to our customers in a fraction
of the time,” Donovan added.
“We’re collaborating to open up our network with
tools and know-how so that developers can more quickly add new capabilities to
their apps,” said David Christopher, chief marketing officer, AT&T
Mobility and Consumer Markets.
The teams at the AT&T Foundry look for ways to speed ideas to
market by identifying and eliminating common inefficiencies or bringing the
right people together to deliver access to new technologies.
One project currently in development focuses on ways to
eliminate developer frustration with the wide range of business and technical
relationships required to create applications.
The team is collaborating on a concept that opens the
network to developers through services such as messaging, location, payments
and advertising accessible via HTML5. The result is significantly reduced
complexity so that developers can more quickly build cool new apps.
“AT&T has the resources and the vision to make
real innovation happen,” said Michael Mullany, CEO of Sencha, which collaborated
with AT&T to develop the HTML5 interface at the AT&T Foundry.
“Together, we’re working to provide developers with
the tools and access to network services that help them bring new ideas to
reality in months rather than years. That means AT&T customers will have
the latest and greatest apps at record speed,” Mullany added.
The Palo Alto center, sponsored by Ericsson, is the third
permanent AT&T Foundry facility to open worldwide, adding to a global
network that includes facilities sponsored by Alcatel-Lucent and Amdocs in
Plano, Texas, and Ra’anana, Israel, respectively. The new location will join
two temporary facilities in the Bay Area where collaborative projects are
already underway, many on display during today’s opening day festivities.
Projects are funneled to the AT&T Foundry in several
ways: Fast Pitch, or “speed date” reviews, where companies or
developers meet with key AT&T decision makers to evaluate projects or
technologies. AT&T is on track to hold 400 of the fast-pitch sessions in locations
across the globe this year.
The Innovation Pipeline (TIP), AT&T’s crowd-sourcing
idea-generating platform, where more than 100,000 employees gather to share
ideas and collaborate on bringing new products and services to market.
AT&T Labs, with 135 years of history in innovation
and technology breakthroughs, which provides the starting point for many
AT&T Foundry projects. Many of the organization’s 1,200 researchers also
provide expertise to projects currently underway.
American Express and AT&T recently announced that
they have formed
a strategic alliance to deliver simple technology tips and insights online and
to provide special offers and promotions for small businesses, a key segment in
driving U.S. economic recovery.
AT&T is the exclusive sponsor of the Technology
“Idea Hub” on OPEN Forum, an online community providing insight,
information, news, and other content focused on helping small business owners
grow their businesses.
By Telecomlead.com Team
