Amadeus top in sector for R&D investment

The report, published on an annual basis by the European Commission, examines the largest 1,000 European companies, and the world’s 2,000 largest companies investing in R&D during 2012, and ranks them according to the total amount invested.

Amadeus is a leading technology partner for the global travel industry. It invested 440.3 million euro (Bt19.45 billion) last year, a 26.7-per-cent increase versus 2011, which represented 15.1 per cent of the company’s revenues. 

This level of investment positions Amadeus as the leader of both the European and the global rankings in the travel and tourism industry category. Furthermore, Amadeus is the only IT travel industry company included in the global 2,000 companies ranking published by the European Commission.

Hervé Couturier, head of R&D at Amadeus, said R&D investment is key to innovation, and innovation is part of the company’s DNA. Amadeus’ track record in innovation is a key driver for both the growth of the company and its current leading position in R&D investment more specifically. 

The company has 16 R&D centres around the world, in Nice, London, Sydney, Antwerp, Aachen, Frankfurt, Boston, Miami, Toronto, Strasbourg, Tucson, Bangalore, Bogota, Warsaw, Istanbul and Bangkok. Its team has some 5,000 people. 

In recent years, its R&D efforts have been particularly focused on extremely high-performance transaction processing under stringent system availability and dependability requirements; information mining from very large databases; super-responsive travel search engines; multi-channel customer servicing applications (agent desktop, web, kiosk, mobile and tablets);  and pioneering the use of open systems.

 

DTAC, Founder Institute aid Thai start-ups

 

Total Access Communication (DTAC) has joined hands with the Founder Institute, the global start-up accelerator, to host a learning programme to help start-up entrepreneurs launch their businesses.

Chief marketing officer Sigvart Voss Eriksen said that under the partnership, DTAC targets giving Thai entrepreneurs another great opportunity to learn and prepare themselves to become successful technology start-up entrepreneurs.

The move forms part of the telecom provider’s “Internet for All” vision.

Recently, DTAC has reached partnership agreements with several global start-up accelerators from Silicon Valley under the model of co-hosting the activity for start-ups. 

For example, there was the DTAC Accelerate workshop, a platform for Thai application developers to showcase their products at an international competition. 

Benjamin Ranck, director of the Founder Institute, said his organisation is a team of professional consultants who help technology start-up companies. It has some more than 800 consultants and 75 partners. 

The institute has a successful track record of launching more than 550 start-ups, with 41 per cent of them receiving funding within six months. 

“Our goal is to globalise Silicon Valley by bringing innovation and technology to cities across the world,” said Ranck.

This is the first time the Founder Institute has hosted a learning programme for start-up entrepreneurs in Bangkok, as it sees the potential and readiness of Thai people who are alert and responsive to new technologies, he said. 

The launch of 3G service and the growth in data services and smart phones are all driving factors that encourage technology use in daily life. There are also supporting efforts and new opportunities for mobile operators to help create an Internet ecosystem and make it more widely available, he added.

 

Accenture Digital for accelerated growth

 

Accenture has launched Accenture Digital to help clients accelerate growth through digital transformation.

Accenture Digital is a new growth platform that integrates the company’s digital assets, software and services across digital marketing, mobility and analytics to help clients unleash the power of digital to drive growth and create new sources of value.

Michael R Sutcliff, lead of Accenture Digital, said Accenture Digital would provide clients with business and technology services, including developing digital strategies to implementing digital technologies and running digital processes on behalf of clients. 

Accenture’s analytics, mobility and digital marketing capabilities will help clients leverage connected and mobile devices, extract insights from data using analytics, and enrich customer experiences and interactions, he said.

Pierre Nanterme, Accenture’s chairman and chief executive officer, said that to achieve long-term success, every business must become digitally enabled. 

Accenture has invested significantly in Accenture Interactive, analytics and mobility, and it is now launching an integrated, end-to-end digital capability to help its clients compete in this fast-changing business environment, he said.

Accenture Digital, which brings together 23,000 professionals, will leverage the breadth and scale of Accenture’s cloud, systems integration and enterprise application capabilities, and its global delivery network to help clients integrate digital into all facets of their organisations and transform their businesses, he added.