Intel director calls for telecoms shake-up
A vice president of Intel Labs says the telecoms sector needs a radical overhaul to ensure innovation takes place in the industry.
Martin Curley, director of Intel Labs Europe, made the comments at the start of the Future Internet Assembly conference in Dublin, Ireland. He stated there was a need for “a Michael O’Leary or a Ryanair” in order to re-energise the telecommunications sector.
His views were also supported by Yrjo Neuvo, director of Finland’s University of Aalto and a former CTO at Nokia, who said cross-border charges and mobile phone numbers could be constraining R&D development. Neuvo said: “Why does it cost to cross a border, there’s no technical reason for this,” especially when the internet is “borderless”.
Also addressing conference delegates was Irish minister for Research and Innovation, Seán Sherlock. The politician said that the Irish Presidency of the Council of the European Union was very much focused on agreeing the final framework of Horizon 2020 before the end of June when their chairmanship ends.
In comments carried in the Irish Times, deputy director-general of DG Connect in the European Commission, Zoran Stančič, said that although Horizon 2020 is now likely to receive a lower-than-expected budget of around €70bn, EU investment in ICT under the framework programme could help create “competitive, sustainable and inclusive growth”.
The three-day conference is being held at The Helix at Dublin City University.
