Internet disrupting research in IT, says Orange

Stuart Corner
Monday, 10 October 2011 08:24

IT Industry - Strategy

A study undertaken by Orange (formerly France Telecom) says that research in all areas of information technology has been "quietly but massively transformed by the unpredictable and disruptive growth of the Internet."

According to Orange, "The emergence of research centred on so-called 'Big Data' - the 'digital exhaust' of massive platforms like Facebook and Twitter - has given corporate players an edge over academic institutions lacking the data and the infrastructure to crunch these massive data sets."

Elie Girard, executive vice president of strategy and development for Orange, said: "We are all looking for the new unknowns. In the age of Big Data, those unknowns are in the Cloud, probably more than the traditional academia or established vendors."

Orange says its study - titled 'What's left to know?' - http://www.orange.com/en_EN/press/press_releases/att00020978/RD_Final-Single-Pages_92811-no-crop.pdf  "Raises questions about the current patterns of academic research in IT and the Internet as more and more corporate giants move their research centres to Silicon Valley."

The study takes the from of set of discussions with some of the companies and universities responsible for the future of high-tech advanced research. These, Orange says, are "combined our own first hand observations and interactions with peers and major customers."

The study contends: "New technical challenges are revealing themselves continuously to Internet firms as the scale, speed as well as nature of the gigantic and chaotic real-time data flows require new solutions and approaches that do not exist today.

"The growth in the Internet is amplified by mobile, social, and connected TV applications that, together with their worldwide reach, are dictating which tech advances matter'¦As competitive pressures from non-traditional players in the IT and Internet industries intensify, the measured and deliberate pace of academic research could become more reactive."

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